Sufjan Stevens

From its framing gimmick and its anti-folk folk songwriting to its he-has-to-be-kidding song titles and its show-offy instrumentation, Illinois should reduce to a simple stunt performance. That it's pop-art of the highest caliber, instead, cements Stevens as one of the most vital voices in music today.

Illinoise is the second instalment in Sufjan's professed aim to immortalise all 50 American States album-by-album, first impressions of this ambitious record suggest a work of such breadth it could encompass the entire Northern half of that vast country.

Once you've taken in how wonderful it sounds, it'll be time to thrill at how much of it there is, then how dense it all is. Not simply wonderful music, "Illinoise" is a collection of short stories set to song.

Come ON! Feels The Illionoise (part l: the Worlds Columbian Exposition + part 2: Carl Sandberg Visits Me in a Dream)

The Man of METROPOLIS Steals our Hears