Sufjan Stevens Has A New Album Inspired By Movies Including The Thing, Point Break, Hellraiser 3, And More

Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens is known for the theming of his albums. His newest, "A Beginner's Mind," which dropped on September 24, 2021, is themed to movies instead of states. Apparently, he and his musical collaborator for this album, Angelo De Augustine, were writing songs by day and watching movies by night.

Their taste in movies (via Polygon) is eclectic. Stevens is a fan of horror, so there's some of that in there ("Night of the Living Dead," "The Thing"), as well as some action fare ("Point Break," "Mad Max") and National Film Registry classics ("All About Eve," "She's Gotta Have It.") Where else are you going to find a song inspired by "Return to Oz"?

I'm here for anything related to "The Silence of the Lambs," including songs from an indie rocker who has recorded more than one Christmas album. What's even quirkier is Stevens and Augustine's commingling of sequels like "Hellraiser III" and "Bring It On Again." I'm also here for any song with lyrics about Cenobites. I mean, how much of a Pinhead would you have to be not to get on board with that?

At one point, Stevens was supposed to be undertaking a project whereby he would record one album themed to each of the fifty United States. However, he only got through two of them, Michigan and Illinois. He later admitted that the so-called "Fifty States Project" was a promo gimmick. It still gave us songs like "Chicago" and "Come On! Feel the Illinoise," so no one's complaining.

Read on for the full tracklisting of "A Beginner's Mind," along with the movies that inspired it.

1. "Reach Out" inspired by "Wings of Desire" (Wim Wenders, 1987)

2. "Lady Macbeth In Chains" inspired by "All About Eve" (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)

3. "Back To Oz" inspired by "Return to Oz" (Walter Murch, 1985)

4. "The Pillar Of Souls" inspired by "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" (Anthony Hickox, 1992)

5. "You Give Death A Bad Name" inspired by "Night of the Living Dead" (George A. Romero, 1968)

6. "Beginner's Mind" inspired by "Point Break" (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)

7. "Olympus" inspired by "Clash of the Titans" (Desmond Davis, 1981)

8. "Murder And Crime" inspired by "Mad Max" (George Miller, 1979)

9. "(This Is) The Thing" inspired by "The Thing" (John Carpenter, 1982)

10. "It's Your Own Body And Mind" inspired by "She's Gotta Have It" (Spike Lee, 1986)

11. "Lost In The World" inspired by "The Last Wave" (Peter Weir, 1977)

12. "Fictional California" inspired by "Bring It On Again" (Damon Santostefano, 2004)

13. "Cimmerian Shade" inspired by "The Silence of the Lambs" (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

14. "Lacrimae" inspired by "Lacrimae rerum" (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1962)

As someone who has co-written and sung his own mock-rock song inspired by "Star Wars" (currently lighting up the charts with 169 views on YouTube), I look forward to listening to "A Beginner's Mind," and nodding along with the movie allusions like Captain America in "The Avengers" saying, "I understood that reference."

What's on the soundtrack of your life, movie-wise? And why haven't you recorded an album about it?