Sufjan Stevens And Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon Collaborate With CARM On Their New Album

CJ Camerieri has performed on music by people like Taylor Swift, Paul Simon, The National, and plenty more over the past decade or so. Now, his self-titled debut album as CARM is out via Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Justin Vernon’s label 37d03d. It features even more collaborations, including tracks with Vernon and Sufjan Stevens.

Those two artists bookend the album. It begins with the Stevens-featuring “Song Of Trouble,” a typically gentle Stevens-style song taken to a different level with Camerieri’s horns. Camerieri’s instrumentation similarly adds another dimension to his Vernon collab, the album-closing “Land.” Meanwhile, he also got Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan to join him on “Already Gone.”

Vernon has been singing the praises of the album over the past few weeks. In mid-December, he wrote of “Song Of Trouble,” “So I’m so excited you can hear this song, by Carm, I’ve listened to over and over for years now. These lyrics may actually be the strongest lyrics I’ve ever heard from the master Sufjan. Aaaand maybe just a bit on point for these times. Do yourself a favor and press play.” Yesterday, Vernon added, “Put the Carm album in your listening plans for tomorrow. A release that’s been years in the making.”

Camerieri broke down some music that influenced his new album in a Brooklyn Vegan interview and said of Vernon:

“Justin’s voice is a once in a generation instrument, and the way he uses each Bon Iver record to surround it with new sounds, technologies, and atmospheres to create completely fresh musical experiences for the listener is what every artist should aspire to achieve. I think of the way Paul Simon used wildly varied musical landscapes to make his poetry speak in different ways as the most apt comparison for what Justin is doing with the Bon Iver project.”

He also said of Stevens:

“Sufjan’s use of orchestral instruments set the stage for everything I’ve done in my career. He was the first artist I toured and recorded with after graduating from Juilliard and playing those incredible trumpet melodies every night was such a thrill. He brilliantly recognized the similarities between the trumpet and the human voice, utilizing the instrument’s vulnerabilities, expressive capabilities, and inherent strength to carry a song forward.”

Listen to “Song Of Trouble” and “Land” above and stream CARM below.

CARM is out now via 37d03d. Get it here.