Sufjan Stevens is weeks away from releasing his recently announced album Javelin, which drops October 6. The first single was the somber piano ballad “So You Are Tired,” selected by Uproxx‘s “Best New Indie Music” column in August, and now “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” helps advance Stevens’ world-building.
The reflective single arrived alongside a colorful video. Atop lilting acoustics and juxtaposing atmospheric orchestrals, Stevens sings, “Will anybody every love me? / For good reasons / Without grievance, not for sport / Will anybody every love me? / In every season / Pledge allegiance to my heart / Pledge allegiance to my burning heart.”
He also takes accountability “for the heartache and the misery I create” and wishes to “wash away the summer sins I made.”
As per the press release, Stevens self-produced “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” and welcomed additional vocals from Adrienne Maree Brown, Hannah Cohen, and Megan Lui.
“Being in the studio with Sufjan is like watching an alchemist at work,” Cohen said in the statement. “He creates a new realm, building our voices from a gentle choir, then morphing us into sirens raging from the sea.”
Lui added, “‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’ felt like a glimpse into Sufjan’s past records but spins into an epic collage of voices and instruments. His vision of melody and composition are astonishing and working with him and Hannah in the room was pure joy.”
Watch the “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” video above, and check out the Javelin album cover art below.
Javelin is out 10/6 via Asthmatic Kitty. Find more information here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.