Sufjan Stevens has been keeping a low profile in recent years. He hadn't toured since 2016 or even appeared onstage since 2018 before performing as part of Meg Lui's band at the September release show for Instant Validation, an album he produced. Though he continued to release music after retreating from the road, it's been a slow crawl back to public life since the dual blows he suffered early this decade: the death of his partner and a surprise bout of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which left him unable to walk. But projects like producing John Legend's children's album have helped him get his feet wet again.
Today he makes another comeback of sorts with the release of his first Christmas song in 15 years. Christmas music used to be a cottage industry for Stevens within his broader canon. He released two entirely distinct five-EP box sets full of holiday music in 2006 and 2012. But after that, he directed his attention elsewhere. A new compilation out later this week called Worst Christmas Ever! brings together highlights from those yuletide releases into one disc, and it features a brand new song that doubles as the first new Sufjan Stevens track since his life turned upside down.
That song is out today. It's called "On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)," and the lyrics are incredibly poignant:
On this Christmas
I ask forgiveness
For all the funny things I’ve said and doneThough I admit I am
A misanthropic man
I only see the worst in things I guessFor in my dreams I might
See everlasting life
But when I wake I still see darknessFor in the future tense
There will be recompense
For all the funny things we’ve said and doneOh will it get much worse my friend?
You said no matter what it’s worth my friend
You said don’t put it past the Earth to get better in the endAnd you may find your worth
In riches on this earth
It never hurts to try I guessBut all the treasures laid
The hidden pleasures paid
They cannot keep you from your deathThough I believe in light
The righteous afterlife
I’m still distracted by this darknessAnd on this Christmas
I ask forgiveness
For all the funny things I’ve said and doneOh will it get much worse my friend?
You said no matter what it’s worth my friend
You said don’t put it past the Earth to get better in the end
A statement from Sufjan:
I love the idea of a Christmas apology. A holiday characterized by the giving and receiving of gifts might be made even better by the giving and receiving of forgiveness. “I’m sorry” is the ultimate ice-breaker in a moment of conflict, contention, and misunderstanding. Let’s try to be better this year: more loving, forgiving, welcoming and reckoning. This song is a prayer—that we can all find a way to yield to the wisdom and understanding of forgiveness. I believe the world will find its way.
The Stevens-directed video was inspired by the mixed media animation of Leesa Allmond. It includes 6,000 stills printed and hand-painted by Stevens, Michael O’Neal, Cubby Graham, and Hannah Cohen, then re-scanned to create the overlay effect on the video. Watch below.
Worst Christmas Ever! is out 11/6 on Asthmatic Kitty.
