Sufjan Stevens has a long history of writing music for ballets, and he’s about to release a new album of that music. Stevens has a long working relationship with the choreographer Justin Peck, and he’s released his scores for several of Peck’s dance pieces. The most recent was 2019’s Principia, and now Stevens is announcing plans to release Reflections, a ballet score that he wrote for two pianists.

Sufjan Stevens scored Justin Peck’s piece Reflections, which originally debuted in Houston in 2019. Stevens wrote the score for pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick, and that score comes out next month as a new album, also called Reflections. It’ll be Stevens’ second release of piano compositions, after 2019’s Decalogue.

In a press release, Sufjan Stevens says, “I’m constantly thinking about bodies moving through space when I’m writing for ballet — that is what has informed this music, first and foremost… Although I’ve never taken a lesson, the piano was my first true love. Having two of them at my disposal was an exciting opportunity and gave me a real catharsis about the expansiveness of the instrument.” Steven has shared the bright, fast-moving instrumental “Ekstasis,” as well as a video of Timo Andres and Conor Hanick playing “Ekstasis” live. Check out both of those, as well as the Reflections tracklist, below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Ekstasis”
02 “Revanche”
03 “Euphoros”
04 “Mnemosyne”
05 “Rodinia”
06 “Reflexion”
07 “And I Shall Come To You Like A Stormtrooper In Drag Serving Imperial Realness”

Reflections is out 5/19 on Asthmatic Kitty.