After teaming up for an EP under the s / s / s moniker, pop experimenter Sufjan Stevens, producer Son Lux and rapper Serengeti have changed their collaborative name to Sisyphus and recorded a full-length album.
The record began as another EP, but quickly expanded into a full-length thanks to an abundance of ideas.
Speaking about the album, Sufjan offered up a barrage of humourous statements.
On their recording process he said the following:
The first EP was the Bastard Stepchild of Myspace and Pets.com. We did it all remotely. For this one, we decided to make everything together in the same room. And it was a very small room. Things got messy. There was a lot of Axe body spray and menthol cigarettes and red wine. The whole thing was done in three weeks total. Fast and furious. Geti kept saying what happens when the jams come on Spotify at the frat party? Are they singing at the hook, is the bass thumping, are the girls grinding? Lowest-case scenario. I mean, seriously, this is far from frat party music, it's still heady as shit, but that was our objective, to trust our impulse and make it fun, for whatever it's worth.
When asked about if there were any guests on the record, he said:
Like celebrity guests? Just make something up to generate press. Kendrick Lamar ghost wrote all the raps. Hudson Mohawke did the beats. Beyonce. Jay-Z. Janet Jackson, etc.
As for why they changed their name:
s/s/s started to sound like the Nazi Schutzstaffel with a lisp so we had to change it. We wanted a word with three S's and Sisyphus felt like a capable anti-hero—endless struggle, the human plague, the existential condition. We are all working towards nothing. Also, the apparent futility of this collaboration—a black rapper from Chicago, a white singer-songwriter from Detroit, and an arty producer with cool glasses, though I dunno where Ryan's from, Cleveland? We have so little in common but we have deep love for each other and we are pushing that stone together.
Sisyphus will be available on March 18 via Asthmatic Kitty and Joyful Noise. Watch a lyric video for the album's "Calm It Down" below.
The record began as another EP, but quickly expanded into a full-length thanks to an abundance of ideas.
Speaking about the album, Sufjan offered up a barrage of humourous statements.
On their recording process he said the following:
The first EP was the Bastard Stepchild of Myspace and Pets.com. We did it all remotely. For this one, we decided to make everything together in the same room. And it was a very small room. Things got messy. There was a lot of Axe body spray and menthol cigarettes and red wine. The whole thing was done in three weeks total. Fast and furious. Geti kept saying what happens when the jams come on Spotify at the frat party? Are they singing at the hook, is the bass thumping, are the girls grinding? Lowest-case scenario. I mean, seriously, this is far from frat party music, it's still heady as shit, but that was our objective, to trust our impulse and make it fun, for whatever it's worth.
When asked about if there were any guests on the record, he said:
Like celebrity guests? Just make something up to generate press. Kendrick Lamar ghost wrote all the raps. Hudson Mohawke did the beats. Beyonce. Jay-Z. Janet Jackson, etc.
As for why they changed their name:
s/s/s started to sound like the Nazi Schutzstaffel with a lisp so we had to change it. We wanted a word with three S's and Sisyphus felt like a capable anti-hero—endless struggle, the human plague, the existential condition. We are all working towards nothing. Also, the apparent futility of this collaboration—a black rapper from Chicago, a white singer-songwriter from Detroit, and an arty producer with cool glasses, though I dunno where Ryan's from, Cleveland? We have so little in common but we have deep love for each other and we are pushing that stone together.
Sisyphus will be available on March 18 via Asthmatic Kitty and Joyful Noise. Watch a lyric video for the album's "Calm It Down" below.
