Albums of the week

INDIE-FOLK

Sufjan Stevens: The Greatest Gift (Asthmatic Kitty)

The subtitle of Sufjan Stevens’s new album declares The Greatest Gift to be a mixtape of outtakes, remixes and demos from his masterful 2015 album, Carrie & Lowell. This might make it sound like a rushed hotchpotch for the festive market; actually, it’s an illuminating companion piece to that ode to his late mother, a sweetly compiled expansion of its predecessor’s delicate magic. It ...