{"product_id":"sufjan-stevens-carrie-and-lowell","title":"Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUpon the release of Sufjan Stevens' seventh studio album, \u003ci\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/i\u003e, two divergent groups found themselves as strange bedfellows: the LGBTQIA+ community and American evangelical Christians. Both were united in praise for Stevens' beautifully melancholic music.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Critically acclaimed as one of the best albums of 2015, the elegiac and intimate record about the death of Sufjan's estranged mother reflects the musician's own paradoxical posture-\u003ci\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/i\u003e is both sacred \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e profane, Christian \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e queer, traditional \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e progressive, despairing \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e hopeful.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Theologian and cultural critic Joel Mayward considers \u003ci\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/i\u003e as a mystical metamodern \u003ci\u003ememento mori\u003c\/i\u003e, Sufjan's symphonic (as opposed to systematic) approach to the questions of mortality, sexuality, and God. Fusing critical observations with personal narrative, Mayward examines the unique audience reception of \u003ci\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/i\u003e and the questions it raises: in a world of division, how might Stevens' affecting music act as a bridge of love between seemingly irreconcilable communities? As \u003ci\u003eCarrie \u0026amp; Lowell\u003c\/i\u003e reminds us of the painful truth that \"we're all gonna die,\" perhaps it also offers a glimpse of transcendence and hope on this side of death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unity Books","offers":[{"title":"Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell","offer_id":46274430533829,"sku":null,"price":22.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0625\/6679\/3413\/files\/979-8-7651-3276-0.jpg?v=1779675673","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.myshopify.com\/products\/sufjan-stevens-carrie-and-lowell","provider":"Unity Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}