Sufjan Stevens, The National Prepping 2010 Albums


Photo by David Greenwald

Sufjan Stevens, he of the public existential crises, says he’s ready to love again: “I think that a lot of the new material that I’m working on is inspiring enough to get me to record it and maybe have a new record out next year… , I’m trying to dissuade any kind of conceptual framework and just write music, love songs, pop songs, and just forget all that conceptual mess,” he’s quoted as saying at Vish Khanna.

Meanwhile, his Brooklyn neighbors/pals in The National e-mailed this morning that they’re expecting to finish the follow-up to Boxer this winter. The band had previously discussed an early 2010 release for the album, which is presumably still on the table. Until then, I’ll be celebrating the news with the Sufjan/Dessner brothers as-yet-unreleased Christmas EP. Huzzah!

More dates as we get ’em on the 2009 and 2010 albums release calendars, as always.