''Convocations'' is the ninth studio album by American musician

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...

, released through

Asthmatic Kitty Asthmatic Kitty Records is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend lo ...

on May 6, 2021. Recorded during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

following the death of Stevens's father, the album was released in five volumes, with a combined total of 49 instrumental songs.

Background and recording

''Convocations'', as described by Stevens' label,

, is "a 49-track reflection on a year of anxiety, uncertainty, isolation, and loss." The album's five volumes each represent one of the

five stages of grief According to the model of the five stages of grief, or the Kübler-Ross model, those experiencing sudden grief following an abrupt realization (shock) go through five emotions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Critics of t ...

, motivated by the death of Stevens' biological father on September 27, 2020, just two days after the release of his previous studio album, '' The Ascension''. Regarding his decision to record a purely instrumental album, Stevens noted: "I think this past year I've just felt so overwhelmed with the content of the world, the pandemic and all the extreme sort of political movements and racial inequity. And then the terror of this invisible plague. All of that is just like weighing bearing down on all of us every day. I felt like I had almost been rendered speechless, in a way. ..I wanted to create music that didn't have a narrative and didn't have verbal content."

Release

The album's first single, "Meditation V", was released on April 6, and the first of five volumes, ''Meditations'', was released on April 8, 2021. ''Lamentations'' was released on April 15. ''Revelations'' was released on April 22. ''Celebrations'' was released on April 29'','' and ''Incantations'' was released on May 6, 2021. Regarding the album's springtime release, Stevens noted: "I recorded most of this in the dead of winter and now it's coming out in the spring. And I think that really, it's a serendipity in a way, that it allows for us to receive this music with hope, you know, for the future. And that's I think that's something that we all deserve and need more than ever right now." Each of the volumes and tracks of ''Convocations'' are accompanied by a generative video art piece created by Mexican artist
Melissa Santamaría
.

Composition

''Convocations'' is an

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

, and

space music Space music, also called spacemusic or space ambient, is a subgenre of ambient music and is described as "tranquil, hypnotic and moving". It is derived from new-age music and is associated with lounge music, easy listening, and elevator music ...

album that contains elements of

progressive electronic Progressive music is music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific genres of music. The word comes from the basic concept of "progress", which refers to advancements through accumulation, and is often dep ...

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

, and

space jazz ''Space Jazz: The soundtrack of the book Battlefield Earth'' is a music album and soundtrack companion to the novel '' Battlefield Earth'' by L. Ron Hubbard, released in 1982.United States Copyright Office. Type of Work: Visual Material, Registr ...

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Convocations 2021 albums Albums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Asthmatic Kitty albums Sufjan Stevens albums 2020s instrumental albums Ambient albums by American artists Space music albums by American artists