By Venus Rittenberg, Editorial Director

[Photo courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records]

Chamber folk titan and indie darling Sufjan Stevens revealed in an Instagram post on September 20 that he had not been participating in the press cycle and promotion regarding his upcoming new album, Javelin, because he was in the hospital recovering from Guillain-Barré syndrome. 

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Guillain-Barré syndrome is an auto-immune disease in which one’s immune system attacks their nerves. In the post’s caption he said, “Last month I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk. My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility. My brother drove me to the ER and after a series of tests—MRIs, EMGs, cat scans, X-rays, spinal taps (!), echo-cardiograms, etc.” Stevens underwent treatment and has been undergoing physical therapy to relearn how to walk.

Stevens’ upcoming album comes out on October 6th. Two singles have already been released, “So You Are Tired” and “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”. This is Stevens’ first non-instrumental album since 2021’s A Beginner’s Mind with Angelo De Augustine, and first non-instrumental solo album since 2020’s The Ascension. 
“Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” scored “Best New Track” from Pitchfork within its track review, comparing it to earlier works like 2005’s queer chamber folk anthem, “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!”. “The Predatory Wasp” tells the story of an experience Sufjan had at a Christian summer camp in which he had a relationship with another male. “So You Are Tired” also received this honor from Pitchfork, who compared it to Sufjan’s 2015 folk project, Carrie & Lowell, which remains one of his most critically acclaimed and popular albums.