Three notes on The Age of Adz.

1. I haven't yet found a write-up of Sufjan Stevens's The Age of Adz that seems to have any idea what the project is about. Most reviews explain why it's different from Stevens's previous work, then point to the pretty moments and mention that Sufjan says bad words this time. Which leaves a bunch of questions unanswered: In what ways is the album "about" Royal Robertson? Who's the narrator in these songs? Does the jittery electronica indicate an unstable mind? I hope Andy Barnes takes a shot at a review; he had some good things to say about All Delighted People.
2. As you might have expected, I think Nitsuh Abebe had a good line: "But it’s amazing how something this antic can come out feeling stodgy and overupholstered. . . . Sufjan sounds like he’s getting all dressed up and going to Carnegie Hall to stage an immaculate breakdown." Although my guess is that the staged breakdown is kind of the point; I don't think this is confessional music as we're used to it in rock.
3. I'm a little disappointed that nobody wants to actually describe the music. For example, the time signatures. It stands out, to me at least, that the catchiest song on the album is "Too Much," and it's in 7/8 time. A lot Stevens's earlier work in weird time signatures is based on some kind of piano loop, so there would be a ton of repetition in the melody. Here, he's managed to avoid a looping instrument, so "Too Much" just sounds syncopated. And "I Want To Be Well" moves seamlessly through three different counts: the beginning's in seven-time, then it's in 4/4 for a bridge, and the final section is in 5/8. If more musicians could write like this, pop would be better for it.