Sufjan Stevens Says 50 States Project Was A Joke

In an interview with Paster Sufjan Stevens talked about his ambitious 50 states project in which he would release an album for every state of the Union. He had already finished started with Michigan and Illinois. But the last album fromt he project was in 2005. There were no proper albums released by Sufjan sinced then. Now he told the magazine what he really thinks of the project:

The whole premise was such a joke, and I think maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like I was becoming a cliché of myself.

After he finished with "Illinoise" Sufjan Stevens put more of his attention on the BQE project, he also says how that project affected his songwriting:

In all honesty, that piece is what really sabotaged my creative momentum. It wasn’t Illinois so much. I suffered sort of an existential creative crisis after that piece. I no longer knew what a song was and how to write an album. It overextended me in a way that I couldn’t find my way back to the song.

Again talking about his artistic problems with the album format he expresses the frustration with the concept:

I'm wondering, why do people make albums anymore when we just download? Why are songs like three or four minutes, and why are records 40 minutes long? They're based on the record, vinyl, the CD, and these forms are antiquated now. So can't an album be eternity, or can't it be five minutes? ... I no longer really have faith in the album anymore. I no longer have faith in the song.

Seems like he will either not release another proper album or another album for a state in the US.

Sufjan Stevens - Variation on Commemorative Transfiguration and Communion at Magruder Park [zshare]