''Enjoy Your Rabbit'' is the second 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 ...

. It is a

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

inspired by the animals of the

Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...

. The album was reworked and rearranged for string instruments and released in 2009 as ''

Run Rabbit Run "Run, Rabbit, Run" is a 1939 song written by Noel Gay and Ralph Butler. The music was by Noel Gay and the song was originally performed by the British singing and comedy double act Flanagan and Allen accompanied by the Harry Bidgood orchestra. ...

''.

Concept and production

Each song on the album corresponds to a different part of the Chinese zodiac, with the exception of "Year of Our Lord" which, like many of Stevens' songs,

references A reference is a relationship between Object (philosophy), objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. ...

his

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. In an interview with Delusions of Adequacy, Stevens revealed that he "wanted to create an aural environment for each animal: a movie soundtrack (without the movie)." He also described the relationship of

imagination Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...

in listeners to the

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

nature of the album, saying "Many people say the same thing: that they inevitably end up visualizing a place or a picture when listening (carefully) to the album. Maybe this is the purpose of instrumental music in the first place. There are no lyrics (or narrative) to encourage the listener. Therefore you are free to imagine what you like." The process of creating the album "required tremendous patience and self-abnegation" with Stevens noting that he "amassed hours (months, years) of raw material" until he "was left with the most minute

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

of something ... which might somehow, in some abstract way, resemble an ox, or a rooster, or a horse". Like much of Stevens' music, ''Enjoy Your Rabbit'' had a religious component in its conception, with Stevens describing how he "put together argumentative essays, stanzas of free verse poetry, persuasive dissertations and assertions ... to prove the existence of God based on the 12-year lunar calendar."

Critical reception

''Enjoy Your Rabbit'' received generally positive reviews. Michael Crumsho of ''Dusted'' described it as "a great record", noting Stevens' ability to "produce melodies that are uplifting, catchy and memorable" but critically remarking that it "remains to be seen, however, if Sufjan will learn that the most elaborate path from Point A to B is not necessarily the best". Jason Nickey of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' referred to ''Enjoy Your Rabbit'' positively as "a fully realized piece of work" and noted he is "looking forward to seeing where tevensgoes from here". Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Nickey also commented on how the album "maps out a wide musical territory ... in the process, evoking a surprising array of moods".

Track listing

Personnel

*Sufjan Stevens – composition, performance,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Tom Eaton –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

*Liz Janes – vocals *Rafter Roberts – mastering *Matt Morgan – artwork *Mannar Wong – Chinese vocals

References

External links

Enjoy Your Rabbit at DiscogsEnjoy Your Rabbit at Asthmatic Kitty Records
{{Authority control 2001 albums Asthmatic Kitty albums Sufjan Stevens albums 2000s concept albums Albums produced by Sufjan Stevens Experimental music albums Electronic albums by American artists