All delighted people, raise their hands.

In 2007, I fell in love with Sufjan. 

His voice, choice of instrumentation, his storytelling, the way he overlaps sounds and loops themes, his attention to harmony....he makes masterpieces. He has crafted some of the most heavenly original songs and renditions of hymns I have ever heard.

Being so attached to his old stuff and eager to hear my favorites played at the Paramount later this month, I initially reacted to his new album in a way I can only explain using this metaphor: 

"This is not the man I married."

What I am referring to here are the mid-life crisis stories women will tell about how they woke up one day and realized that the man asleep beside them had indeed changed. The old jokes you used to share together were now stale. He doesn't tuck you in at night. His hairline had receded (sometimes attractive). His face is etched with wrinkles of concerns and hardships that had accrued with 20 years of adulthood.

It was good music, but it wasn't Sufjan as I knew him. At first glance.

But, like the metaphor, you remind yourself of why you married him in the first place.

It wasn't his jokes.

It wasn't his looks.

It wasn't his romantic gestures.

It was his soul. How he thinks, acts, and feels. His perspective and how he approaches situations. His purpose in life, in the Lord.

Suddenly, you realize that this man is an even better version than before. He might be a bit more bruised, jaded, and has long brushed off the idealism of his youth. But he's more beautiful that way. 

I gave his album a second listen, and I was blown away. The Age of Adz is a great ride of a older, wiser, better Sufjan. It's grandiose, painfully honest, and entirely sublime.

Change is good.

Favorite tracks: I Want To Be Well, Get Real Get Right, Age of Adz, Impossible Soul

Note to the interweb: I am no music critic, nor have I ever been married or been through a mid-life crisis. All speculation. 

Also, let it be known that the comment about being tucked in bed was merely to extend my metaphor and should not be a reflection of my expectations nor desires of married couple interaction. (Except if its like that final scene in Ferris Bueller where his parents tuck him in...that scene gives me the giggles every time.)