It’s happening, you guys. After nearly five years of relative silence from one of the most creative and prolific musicians of the last 15 years, Sufjan Stevens is putting out another album. All delighted people (and you seven swans out there) rejoice! Your king of intimate stories told through songs has returned.

The news was released on Monday morning via YouTube video (and press release from his label Asthmatic Kitty Records). Unlike Stevens’ most recent album, 2010’s The Age of Adz, Carrie & Lowell (which is not a state so stop asking) feels far more Seven Swans and Michigan-y, musically speaking, than the more inventive and experimental work of his last two albums (at least based upon the preview). Though innovative in their own right, the aforementioned Adz and the EP All Delighted People had far more in common with his collaboration and self-titled album with Son Lux and Serengeti titled Sisyphus than the understated work of his earlier albums.

Featuring far more banjo work and sweet melodies—all draped romantically against a landscape awash with 1970s-tinged 35mm (or super 8?) vibes—Carrie & Lowell looks to be another work of Stevens’ musical-and-storytelling hybrids of creativity and poignancy. But don’t just take our word for it (that would be very silly and single-minded of you!), take a peek at the teaser trailer the singer released today to announce it.

Tracklisting:
01. Death With Dignity
02. Should Have Known Better
03. All of Me Wants All of You
04. Drawn to the Blood
05. Eugene
06 Fourth Of July
07. The Only Thing
08. Carrie & Lowell
09. John My Beloved
10. No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
11. Blue Bucket of Gold

Carrie & Lowell will be released on March 31 in these here United States, and a day early (March 30th) in Europe. You can preorder it here.

How excited are you for this album? Let us know in the comments.