“With My Whole Heart”

We live in particularly trying times for optimism, but here is Sufjan Stevens, shaking things up and teaching us to love again. “With My Whole Heart” is his self-described attempt to “write an upbeat and sincere love song without conflict, anxiety, or self-deprecation.” Coming from a guy whose every passing interest—U.S. state history, Tonya Harding, fucking Christmastime—seems to result in teary-eyed contemplation, it’s a noble pursuit. Inevitably, he almost falls apart less than two minutes in. “I confess the world’s a mess,” he admits softly, “but I will always love you.” You can almost sense him gazing out the window wistfully before remembering the task at hand.

Even more surprising than the lyrical shift, however, is the music: five minutes of unabashed and (relatively) unadorned inspirational soft rock. On 2010’s The Age of Adz, Stevens embellished these types of simple pop melodies with queasy, complex arrangements that made it sound like the songs were spontaneously combusting beneath a heap of sputtering machinery. Now, he lays it bare, daring you to hold eye contact. There are rolling toms, glittery keys, call-and-response choruses, and a legit guitar solo to close things out. Love is a familiar subject, he reminds us, but it can also be radiant.

Packaged with the similarly glowing “Love Yourself,” “With My Whole Heart” continues Stevens’ method of post-Carrie & Lowell transmissions: conceptual, out-of-the-blue, and released for a good cause. These new tracks arrive in anticipation of Pride Month and the sales benefit charities for LGBTQ+ and homeless youth. In this context, the positive message feels especially close to his heart. Along with the new songs, Stevens shared a 1996 demo of “Love Yourself” that’s shorter, starker, and less certain of its message. Like a lot of his work from this early period, it feels fragmented and vulnerable and alone: a small thought whispered into a quiet room. Here, he gives it a community.