Coming after his orchestral manoeuvre in the city with The B.Q.E., Sufjan Stevens has returned with his first song-based LP since Illinoise in 2005. Although the title and general tone of The Age of Adz draw upon inspiration and themes in apocalyptic artist Royal Robertson (whose work also provides the cover of the LP), there’s no concept behind the record: no states (sadface), and no urban thoroughfares. What there is, however, is an engagement with the cosmos which bridges across to the personal and the individual in the form of Sufjan himself.

Those are hyperbolic, grand words, aren’t they! It’s a lot to say that The Age of Adz is both universalising and personalising, dealing with ideas that are relevant at both the universal and the personal level. If that sounds like an impossible and pretentious weight to put on a pop record, well perhaps it is: but one thing Stevens has never shied away from is expressing big ideas, and to a certain extent this record even represents a retreat from some of Stevens’ bigger ideas, as he focuses on himself rather than a polity or environment.

The other thing about this record is that it’s one in which Stevens is leaving behind the acoustic folk guitars and banjos in favour of a more electronic sound (although this remains in combination with Sufjan’s familiar use of orchestration and multilayed vocals).  We’re eased gently into the brave new world of Sufjan: opening track “Futile Devices” sits very easily in the space Stevens occupied on Michigan and Illinoise; but there are sparks of the echoing voices and reverb that will characterise the record and begin to blook as we move into second track “Too Much” (offered as a free download at Sufjan’s bandcamp page). The flourishes, trills and choral pyrotechincs on “The Age of Adz”, with their electronic support more fully flesh out the new direction Stevens is taking on the album. Other tracks, such as “Now That I’m Older”, have a sparser, more melancholy sound that remains drenched in effects.

Musically, The Age of Adz retains the epic ambition of Stevens’ previous work. As well as electronica and experimentation (in a vein not dissimilar to Enjoy Your Rabbit), we’re treated to the 25 minute extravaganza of “Impossible Soul” at the climax to the record. At the same time, some of the tracks on the LP run perilously close to being danceable pop songs…

As ever, Sufjan Stevens’ work is engaging and thoughtful. Rather than The Age of Adz, perhaps we live in the Age of Sufjan…

The Age of Adz is out on 12th October.