Sufjan Stevens unveiled two new songs to celebrate Pride Month, Love Yourself and With My Whole Heart. Love Yourself is an immersive track that finds Stevens singing over a steady patter of drums and a blend of sparkling synths. The song is based on a 1996 sketch, and Stevens also shared the original four-track demo and a short instrumental reprise.
With My Whole Heart, meanwhile, is a completely new song that finds Stevens dabbling in euphoric pop, with just a pinch of disco. In a statement, Stevens said he wanted to challenge himself to write an upbeat and sincere love song without conflict, anxiety or self-deprecation.
Along with arriving on digital retailers today, Love Yourself and With My Whole Heart will be released as a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single, June 28th. A portion of the proceeds from the project will benefit the Ali Forney Center in Harlem, New York and the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, Michigan, both of which provide support to LGBTQ and homeless kids. Along with the new song, Stevens also released a new Pride t-shirt, which is available on his website.
Love Yourself and With My Whole Heart mark Stevens first new music since the release of his 2018 Christmas song, Lonely Man of Winter. Prior to that, Stevens notably contributed several songs to the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack, including the Oscar-nominated Mysteries of Love. His last solo album, Carrie and Lowell, was released in 2015, while in 2017 he teamed with Bryce Dessner of the National and drummer James McAlister for a record about the solar system, Planetarium.