Sufjan Stevens will get a little help from friends St. Vincent, Chris Thile, Moses Sumney, Casey Foubert, and James McAlister when he performs “Mystery of Love” on the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday.
“Mystery of Love” is one of three songs Stevens contributed to the the soundtrack of the film Call Me By Your Name and is nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar.
Fellow nominees for Best Original Song are “Mighty River” by Mary Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson from Mudbound; “Remember Me” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from Coco, “Stand Up for Something” by Diane Warren and Lonnie R. Lynn from Marshall; and “This Is Me” by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from The Greatest Showman.
Sufjan Stevens Joined by Collaborators
St Vincent, AKA Annie Clark, has a history with Stevens that goes back to playing in his band for the 2006 tour for Illinois. Since then, St. Vincent has released five albums, including her self-titled album which won Best Alternative Album in 2014. Her most recent album is Masseduction.
Chris Thile is a Grammy-winning mandolinist, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a member of Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers hosts the Minnesota Public Radio show Live From Here.
Moses Sumney, a vocalist and instrumentalist, opened for Stevens on his 2015 Carrie & Lowell Live tour. His debut album, Aromanticism was released last year. Casey Foubert is a multi-instrumentalist and member of The Shins and Lucius. He toured with Stevens in 2015. James McAlister is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalists, and another longtime collaborator. He and Stevens most recently collaborated on 2017’s Planetarium, and he joined the band for the 2015 Carrie & Lowell Live tour.
The 90th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.