Sufjan Stevens - blue bucket of gold, 2015

"Stevens’ mother – the Carrie of the album’s title – was a strange presence in his family. She left him and his siblings early in their lives, and from then on contact was allegedly sporadic, and smudged with tension. Her own life was pockmarked with troubles of her own, including depression, substance abuse schizophrenia, and biopolar disorder: issues which left their scars throughout Stevens’ family. Carrie & Lowell indicates that Stevens spent a lot of time following his mother’s death trawling through this muddy past in the hopes of finding closure. However, anyone hoping for a record of hard-earned catharsis is out of luck: Stevens’ emotions are too complex to be reduced to crystal-clear wisdoms."