If you're looking to spend a pensive Valentine's Day at home, Sufjan Stevens and Pennsylvania-based folk artist Denison Witmer have a perfect gift for you. On February 14, Witmer will be releasing a new album titled Anything At All, produced and recorded by his old friend Stevens. The album was recorded over a period of two years in Stevens' studio in the Catskills and features vocals from the "Fourth Of July" singer on a few tracks.
"I think the songs capture some of… the isolated, private, casual nature of upstate New York," said Stevens in a statement. "We also took our time, worked in blocks between long breaks because of Covid and adult-life stuff. So there was a kind of touch-and-go nature to the process. Nothing feels hurried or immediate. A lot of big changes were happening in our lives and in the world around us, so the songs came to represent a kind of safe haven from all that.”
"Anything At All is about doubling down on family life and doing everything I can to slow the pace of my life as things around me feel busier than ever before,” Witmer added in his own statement. “It’s about putting systems in place and committing to the changes needed to make it work. That commitment doesn’t come without its own set of questions, and most of the lyrics on this album deal with trying to find those answers. How do I create a world I want to raise my children in? How do I create a world I want to live in? How do I create community with like-minded people who have similar goals?"
The two also shared a new single today, titled "Focus Ring." (They released the album's first single, "Older And Free," last month.) "Are you an artist?/Are you an engineer?/Does the world feel straight /Or did things get weird?/Anything at all/Anything at all you need," Witmer sings in the song's opening, exemplifying the act of "extending generosity" from which the album takes its title. You can listen to the "Focus Ring" below:
