By Keith Cameron

Second instalment of New York-based singer-songwriter’s ‘50 States’ project.

All the best soul soldiers are mindful of the dangers of solipsism, and so Sufjan Stevens’ musical odyssey through America proves a useful means to refract the self through folk history. Viz, John Wayne Gacy Jr, a disturbingly pretty account of Chicago’s infamous serial killer. Illinois builds upon the miniature orchestral arrangements that made 2004’s Seven Swans such a joy, Stevens’ approach owing as much to Sondheim as to the staple acoustic troubadours (Drake, Young) his simpler songs evoke. A tendency to indulgence - track two’s title runs to 53 words - undermines the album’s overall potency, but when focusing on life’s minute joys or its mundane horror, Stevens’ voice is as true and profound as an angel.