Tuned Up likes to gather thoughts from outside our writer circle from time to time on songs that are widely talked about. Here are some of said thoughts about Sufjan Stevens’ “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross,” off the forthcoming Asthmatic Kitty release Carrie and Lowell:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx1s_3CF07k[/youtube]

“I enjoyed Adz, but I’m glad to hear something drastically different.” – Drew Williams of Deadwood Floats

“Well, I read somewhere that this album is about his mother (Carrie) and the man she was married to for a few years during his childhood (Lowell). She died recently, and I think he wrote this album as a way of dealing with his grief. I like the simple, stripped down feel of the tiny bit I’ve heard. It feels very honest and intimate. It’s nice to see this side of Sufjan.

When I first listened to this song, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sufjan has always referenced his faith in his music, but I felt very unsettled by the last line of this song: “There’s no shade in the shadow of the cross.” I wondered at first if he had lost his faith. But perhaps he was simply being honest, and describing how his faith did not provide him any comfort after his mother’s passing. He seemed to express the same type of sentiment at the end of Casimir Pulaski Day: “All the glory when he took our place. But he took my shoulders and he shook my face. And he takes and he takes and he takes.”

Pitchfork did an interview with him recently, and I think a lot of insight can be found there. I won’t say much more, since you are asking for reactions, but it is definitely worth a read.” – Jennifer Gibson

“I think it’s a bit heavier and less whimsical than Seven Swans, a bit less Franciscan if you will. This is Silver and Gold Sufjan, and I couldn’t be more okay with that!” – Neil Leonard of Year of the Buffalo

“Hits me right in the feels, reminiscent of Seven Swans.” – Jon More

“I’m excited to style wise hear Sufjan return to his roots. This song made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and I kind of love it. It took a couple of listens for me to really connect with this song. I don’t know how everyone is going to feel about it. I feel like the album is going to have a lot more emotion behind it. Sufjan is always very honest with his music which is a big part of why everyone loves him. Death, grieving and memories of past loved ones is not something we like to have in the front of our minds, but it’s something we can relate too at some point. This song very much reminded me of Elliott Smith.” – Koli Meadows of Get in the Ark

“Sounds like somebody died and he doesn’t really care. I love Sufjan and think he’s brilliant but this song is lacking something. 

Maybe the brilliance is in the apathetic tone of the whole song. Somebody died but he didn’t really care. He cared enough to write about it but not enough to write a great song about it. 

Okay. I take it back. Now thst i think about it, that’s some amazing art and pretty brilliant.” – Derek Christopher of The Ghost Town Railroad

“All the classic whimsy we’ve come to know and love from Sufjan but with more angst this time around” – Curtis Cole of MTS