As autumn slowly approaches, hints of color are appearing on the trees around Lewis & Clark, and despite the presence of the sun, a chill fills the the air in both the mornings and evenings.
Soon the days will consist of clouds, rain, and wet leaves I'll have to attempt not to slip on.
I can stay all cozied up in my dorm with an over-sized flannel and the warmth that fills my stomach when I take a sip of my tea.
If you haven't taken notice yet, autumn is my favorite time of the year. I'm basically in constant anticipation of autumn year-round. I try to enjoy every season, but autumn takes all for me.
While I've been excitedly waiting for autumn, I've also been, naturally, thinking about good music to fit my autumn-y mood and to match the environment around me.
This got me thinking about the wonderful memory of being able to see my favorite artist ever this past June: Sufjan Stevens.
If you haven't been previously acquainted with Sufjan Stevens, he is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Detroit, Michigan. His first well-recognized work was the album A Sun Came, from 2000, released on the label Asthmatic Kitty, which he co-founded with his stepfather.
Although Sufjan is probably most recognized for the 2005 album Come On Feel the Illinoise, as a die-hard fan, I can happily say I appreciate each and every one of his works. (More about Sufjan here)
Having released nine studio albums, he has never failed to impress me with his impeccable ability to formulate angelic, emotional, and idiosyncratic music.
The thing that really gets me about Sufjan is the reliability and variance I find within his music.
As autumn brings about the ultimate change to the environment and prepares us for a time of darkness that transforms into the blooming of spring, I can only think of Sufjan's creations.
Sufjan's soul transcends into his music and, in turn, into me and all parts of my life.
I don't think I realized this until experiencing Sufjan live. It is a blissful experience I recommend for everyone, because it allowed me to make connections I never had before.
After going to this concert, I saw the way that Sufjan and his music weaved their way into each aspect of my life. He has been there for me in every possible mood - sad, hopeful, alone, anxious, fearful, desolate, cynical, energetic.
This is why I see Sufjan so intensely in the season of autumn.
Despite the trials or tribulations I have been through in the years of my life, autumn has always been a source of comfort for me. It is also in the trials or tribulations of the four years since first listening to Sufjan that he has been such an incredible source of solace for me.
In the way the leaves turn colors and fall, only to be sweeped up by the wind and taken away, making room for spring; so does Sufjan's music continuously change and affect me. It's an effect no other artist has on me.
The only way I can simply describe Sufjan and his music is ever-changing.
Just like the season of autumn.
