Sufjan Stevens To Release Tenth Anniversary Edition of ‘Carrie & Lowell’
The upcoming anniversary edition is set to include forty minutes of new material, including a demo of the Academy Award-nominated “Mystery of Love.”
Courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Sufjan Stevens is celebrating the tenth anniversary of his critically acclaimed seminal album, Carrie & Lowell, with a special anniversary reissue.
His label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, shared the announcement, stating its forthcoming release date of May 30, 2025. The deluxe edition will featureFeatureA collaboration in which one artist appears on another's track, usually credited with the abbreviation feat. Features quickly introduce performers to each other's audiences, and a well-chosen guest can liftGo to Feature Glossary a new essay by Sufjan, seven previously unheard bonus tracks, and an alternate cover. Physical editions to the reissue will include a 40-page art book of old family photos spanning four generations, photos taken by Sufjan in 2015, and a collection of artwork and drawings.
The upcoming re-release of Carrie & Lowell will include forty minutes of new music, including demo versions of “Death With Dignity,” “Should Have Known Better,” “The Only Thing,” and “Eugene.” Expansive outtakes of “Fourth of July” and “Wallowa Lake Monster” are also included, with both featuring a much more cinematic mood. As the last track in the reissue, a demo of the Academy Award-nominated “Mystery of Love,” is also included, featuring a solo guitar performance and voice with slightly altered lyrics from Stevens. To celebrate the record’s announcement, the demo for “Mystery of Love” was made available on all streaming and digital platforms.
Courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Since its initial release back in 2015, Carrie & Lowell has been described by many music critics as one of the best albums from the 2010s, with many labeling it Stevens’s best record to date. Aside from garnering praise for its raw exploration of grief, it was also commended for its seamless blend of indie-folk and lo-fi elements, which makes it no surprise that it debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 upon release.
Most recently, Stevens released his tenth studio album Javelin, back in 2023, which received widespread critical acclaim upon its release worldwide. It featured the singles “So You Are Tired,” “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?,” and “A Running Start,” and was preceded by the albums Convocations (2022) and The Ascension (2021).
Pre-orders for the ten-year anniversary edition of Carrie & Lowell can be found here.
As we anticipate Sufjan Stevens’s ten-year anniversary edition of Carrie & Lowell, listen to “Mystery of Love (Demo)” below:
Frequently Asked Questions
The deluxe edition includes a new essay by Sufjan Stevens, seven previously unheard bonus tracks, and an alternate cover. Physical editions add a 40-page art book of family photos spanning four generations, photos taken by Stevens in 2015, and a collection of artwork and drawings.
Asthmatic Kitty Records announced a release date of May 30, 2025, for the reissue, marking ten years since the album’s original release in 2015. Pre-orders were available through the label’s store ahead of the release, and a demo was shared to mark the announcement.
The reissue includes roughly forty minutes of new music, including demos of “Death With Dignity,” “Should Have Known Better,” “The Only Thing,” and “Eugene.” Expansive outtakes of “Fourth of July” and “Wallowa Lake Monster” are also included, both described as having a more cinematic mood.
The “Mystery of Love” demo is the final track on the reissue. The song is Academy Award-nominated, and the demo features a solo guitar performance and voice with slightly altered lyrics from Stevens. It was released on all streaming and digital platforms to celebrate the announcement.
Many music critics have described Carrie & Lowell as one of the best albums of the 2010s, and many have labeled it Stevens’s best record to date. It drew praise for its raw exploration of grief and its blend of indie-folk and lo-fi elements.