Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Tenth Anniversary Violet Vinyl) Vinyl 2LP

Asthmatic Kitty Records celebrates the ten-year anniversary of Carrie & Lowell with an expanded double-LP album that includes seven previously unreleased bonus tracks, a 40-page art book, and a new essay by Sufjan Stevens. The deluxe edition also offers an alternative cover: a full-framed version of the original Polaroid zoomed out to reveal the photo’s caption written in a child’s handwriting—“Carrie & Lowell”—disclosing the source of the album title (it was written by Sufjan's sister Djamilah). The new edition was designed by Sufjan himself: the 40-page booklet contains various collages of vintage family photos spanning four generations interfused with artwork and drawings (on themes of death, dying, grief and the state of Oregon) as well as landscape photos Sufjan took while travelling across the western U.S. over a decade ago.

The original album is preserved on one disc, while disc two contains 40 minutes of extras, including demo versions of "Death With Dignity," "Should Have Known Better," "The Only Thing," and "Eugene". Expansive outtakes of "Fourth of July" and "Wallowa Lake Monster" are also included, both featuring a more cinematic mood. The final gem is the original demo of "Mystery of Love." This song came from the original Carrie & Lowell album sessions but was later re-worked and re-recoded for Luca Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name. The demo version here features solo guitar and voice with slightly altered lyrics.