To You, Somehow 3 — 11
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To You, Somehow is born out of a desire to further understand and unearth the emotion within Carrie & Lowell, and to approach the fear Stevens feels in writing the album. When all of the instruments, lyrics, and everything else that contextualizes these works as songs to be sung fall apart, what can remain? To You, Somehow will be a cover of the entirety of Carrie & Lowell, in which the only material that is covered are Sufjan Stevens’ intakes of breath. These inhales, done before singing the lines of Stevens’ music, remove the poetry of his lyrics, yet retain the spirit of his tragedy, desire, confusion, frustration, joy, and heartbreak. Just as Carrie & Lowell is an attempt to embody Carrie’s life into song, To You, Somehow is a similar endeavor at capturing and understanding Stevens’ emotion in the album when removed from song. – Luis Mejico