Considering Sufjan Stevens’ career is driven by a 50-album cycle about the United States, you’d think it would be easy to look at his output to date as a broad, cohesive collection. But instead, the unanimous acclaim behind last year’s Illinois saw listeners nitpicking over the differences between two albums (previously, Michigan) that are basically the same. Stevens’ new collection of outtakes from Illinois brings a lot to light. Granted, Illinois was an incredible record, and The Avalanche has some pretty poignant moments too. But it also proves that beyond writing some powerful songs, Stevens also has this knack for writing drab filler. The Avalanche boasts about five new songs that stack up to their A-sides, three pointless new versions of ‘Chicago’, three equally pointless interludes, and the rest, misguided downtempo numbers that were begging to be cut. The whole mess gets so repetitive, it seems like a stretch that he’ll make another great album soon, let alone 48.
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