Pitchfork

Sufjan alert! Our banjo-plucking, States- songwriting, Christmas-boxing stealer of hearts hooked up (in a purely musical sense, you gutter-dwellers!) with pals Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer in New York earlier this year to record a batch of songs by Rosie, who sought to escape the pressures of worldwide fame and acclaim and make music the old-fashioned, on-the-fly, inspired way.

Seems these sessions proved fruitful enough to warrant the release of an album, Rosie's fourth, titled These Friends of Mine. It's out now in digital format and should have a physical release in March 2007, courtesy of Rosie's own label, Sing-a-Long Records, partnered with Nettwerk. Sufjan sings backing vocals and plays instruments on a number of These Friends' ten tracks, which include covers of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love", Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird", and Witmer's own "Paper Doll".

Best of all, you can stream a pair of songs from Rosie's new disc right now at her website and MySpace: "Much Farther to Go", which features a prominent Sufjan backing vocal, and "Kite Song", an innocuous ballad touched with strings and piano. They're pretty coffeeshop-ripe and a bit Jesus-y, which is great if you're into those things. Even if you're not, you may enjoy them for their pleasant nature and competent arrangements and production. And because you love all things Sufjan. Admit it, you do.

These Friends of Mine:

01 If This City Never Sleeps
02 Why Waste More Time?
03 The One I Love
04 Much Farther to Go
05 Paper Doll
06 Kite Song
07 Songbird
08 All the Way to New York City
09 Say Hello
10 These Friends of Mine