Cat Stevens Tell 'em I'm Gone

Emma Stevens swaps folk convention that marked her previous records for brighter pop waves. Her fourth studio record, Light Year, out today (April 30), remains earth-bound with her rootsy songwriting style, yet leaps through the stratosphere with starry patterns, decorative synths, and programmed beats. “When I write an album, I don’t tend to specifically set out to make sure all the songs blend well,” she tells American Songwriter. “I really like a lot of different music, and that gets reflected in what I make. This album has a lot of ups and downs, I’ll give you that.”

The title of “The Decalogue” has a touch of the grandiose: it means “The Ten Commandments.” Yet this score, composed by Sufjan Stevens for a dance work choreographed by Justin Peck that premiered with the New York City Ballet in May of 2017, is quiet and experimental. Stevens’s piano score, as played and recorded by Timo Andres, sounds like etudes in the Romantic-modernist tradition, as if prompted by Debussy. With “The Decalogue,” releasing digitally and on deluxe edition vinyl on October 18, 2019 and standard edition and CD on December 6, 2019, Sufjan is making—gently, without ostentation—new departures.

Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitarist ​Becca Stevens​ and acclaimed pianist and composer ​Elan Mehler​ have a friendship that stretches back over a decade. The pair first began playing together in 2009 for Mehler’s record ​The After Suite​ (Brownswood), and toured the US and Europe. During this period Becca guested a couple of times at Elan’s residency in the Swiss Alps. It was a concentrated musical experience, during their stays they would often play for two weeks, four sets a night.