Sufjan Stevens Run Rabbit Run

• Year of the Ox (arranged by Michael Atkinson)
• Enjoy Your Rabbit (arranged by Michael Atkinson)
• Year of the Monkey (arranged by Michael Atkinson)
• Year of the Tiger (arranged by Rob Moose)
• Year of the Dragon (arranged by Nico Muhly)
• Year of the Snake (arranged by Olivier Manchon)
• Year of the Horse (arranged by Rob Moose)
• Year of the Sheep (arranged by Maxim Moston)
• Year of the Rat (arranged by Olivier Manchon)
• Year of the Rooster (arranged by Gabriel Kahane)
• Year of the Dog (arranged by Rob Moose)
• Year of the Boar (arranged by Michael Atkinson)
• Year of Our Lord (arranged by Michael Atkinson)

Run Rabbit Run is not a new Sufjan Stevens album exactly, and neither is it about John Updike. Instead, it is a version of Stevens' 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit, reimagined for the New York string quartet Osso (who provided the strings for Illinoise). Originally commissioned by Bryce Dessner for his Music Now Festival, Stevens, Dessner, and the Osso quarted decided that they needed to document this music on a physical format. The songs, rewritten for strings by such composers as Michael Atkinson and Nico Muhly, among others, comprise a song cycle about the Chinese Zodiac. The excellent album artwork (as evidenced by the cover above) was done by Dessner's sister Jessica, who in the spirit of the project based her paintings on the original Enjoy Your Rabbit visuals.

Abstract by Matthew Blackwell