Sufjan Stevens to release new album ‘Carrie & Lowell’

It’s been a long five years (unless you count the last Christmas compendium), but Sufjan Stevens fans finally have a new album to look forward to.

Stevens, probably best-loved here in Chicago for his sprawling “Illinois” album, will release “Carrie & Lowell” on March 31, according to the official album trailer posted Monday on YouTube by Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Asthmatic Kitty describes the 11-track album as “a 44-minute meditation on mortality, memory, and faith.” And the title track, excerpted in the video, sounds more like a return to the musician’s folksy 2004 album “Seven Swans” than the electronic cacophony of his last album, “The Age of Adz,” or side project, Sisyphus.

It’s named for Stevens’ mother and stepfather, Pitchfork reported.

The first single, “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross,” will be released in mid-February, according to the label.

Here’s the full track listing:

1. Death With Dignity (3:59)
2. Should Have Known Better (5:07)
3. All Of Me Wants All Of You (3:41)
4. Drawn to the Blood (3:18)
5. Eugene (2:26)
6. Fourth of July (4:39)
7. The Only Thing (4:44)
8. Carrie & Lowell (3:14)
9. John My Beloved (5:04)
10. No Shade in the Shadow of The Cross (2:40)
11. Blue Bucket of Gold (4:43)

For more information, or to preorder the album, visit carrieandlowell.com.