Sufjan Stevens releases On This Christmas with a video built from 6,000 painted stills

Sufjan Stevens released On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better) and a self-directed video on November 2. Asthmatic Kitty credits him with writing, producing and performing the song, his first new Christmas composition in almost fifteen years. The single arrives before the Worst Christmas Ever! compilation, scheduled for November 6.

Stevens directed and edited the film, working on its images with photographers Michael O’Neal and Cubby Graham. Leesa Allmond’s mixed-media animation inspired the approach. The team printed, hand-painted and scanned 6,000 still images to create the layers placed over the video, rather than relying solely on untreated filmed footage.

Stevens, O’Neal, Graham and Hannah Cohen painted the frames. Friends and neighbours appear in the cast, including Meg Lui and Olivia Busa. In his statement about the song, Stevens frames forgiveness as part of the holiday. This new recording supplements a selection of earlier Christmas material; the compilation is not an entirely new studio album.