Sufjan Stevens has been milking 2015's Carrie & Lowell for quite some time, delivering both a companion live album and outtakes record, but today, the singer-songwriter has unveiled a totally new track. Bizarrely enough, it's a tribute to tribute to American figure skater Tonya Harding.
Aptly titled "Tonya Harding," Stevens explains in an accompanying essay that the song is a long overdue attempt by him to capture the "complicated subject."
He details Harding's underdog rise to the top of the figure skating world, the infamous Nancy Kerrigan incident, and her subsequent fall from grace — ultimately dubbing her "America's sweetheart with a dark twist."
"Tonya shines bright in the pantheon of American history simply because she never stopped trying her hardest," Stevens writes. "She fought classism, sexism, physical abuse and public rebuke to become an incomparable American legend."
The song arrives just in time for the release of the Margot Robbie-starring biopic I, Tonya (though the song has no official affiliation with the movie). Hear the musical results of Stevens's meditations of the Olympic skater in the player below.
"Tonya Harding" will also be treated to cassette and blue marbled vinyl 7-inch single releases, which you can pre-order here.
Aptly titled "Tonya Harding," Stevens explains in an accompanying essay that the song is a long overdue attempt by him to capture the "complicated subject."
He details Harding's underdog rise to the top of the figure skating world, the infamous Nancy Kerrigan incident, and her subsequent fall from grace — ultimately dubbing her "America's sweetheart with a dark twist."
"Tonya shines bright in the pantheon of American history simply because she never stopped trying her hardest," Stevens writes. "She fought classism, sexism, physical abuse and public rebuke to become an incomparable American legend."
The song arrives just in time for the release of the Margot Robbie-starring biopic I, Tonya (though the song has no official affiliation with the movie). Hear the musical results of Stevens's meditations of the Olympic skater in the player below.
"Tonya Harding" will also be treated to cassette and blue marbled vinyl 7-inch single releases, which you can pre-order here.