The songwriter’s new yuletide compilation is an extensive diary of his decades-long musical quests. It’s also a far-reaching look into Christmas’ greater profundity, a celebration of life in the face of death.
Sufjan Stevens’ dense catalog defies easy explanation. Is he a quirked-up twee musician with orchestral flourishes, as heard on 2005’s Illinois? Maybe he’s an Elliott Smith acolyte with lachrymose lyrics, as we heard a decade later on Carrie & Lowell. Or he could be an adventurous experimentalist, whether that’s in the vein of 2001’s IDM exercise Enjoy Your Rabbit or 2021’s collection of forty-nine ambient pieces, Convocations. The best way to understand someone as eclectic and comprehensive as Stevens is to know that he is both all and none of these things.

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