Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine share new songs "Back To Oz" and "Fictional California"

Last month Stevens and De Augustine announced A Beginner's Mind, their upcoming collaborative album inspired by films they watched together during a month-long songwriting break.

They announced the album with "Reach Out" and "Olympus", and today (10 August) they've released another two songs, "Back To Oz" and "Fictional California", inspired by Back To Oz and Bring It On Again.

De Augustine says of "Back To Oz", "This was a song that I had written mostly at home in California. We finished its lyrics after watching Return to Oz. The words reference an erosion of a central character’s internal reality. A loss of innocence is the impetus for a journey to find inner truth. In the film, Dorothy returns to the world of Oz to find its landscape in ruins and its citizens frozen in stone. Only she can find the ruby slippers and return peace to Oz. Only we can save ourselves, but we first have to remember who we truly are."

Stevens adds, "Angelo is mostly known for his intimate home recordings; his music is quiet and confessional. So for "Back To Oz" we decided to go for something flashier. The song has a fun guitar groove, so we gave it some bass and drums, and Angelo even recorded his first electric guitar solo. It’s a sad song - being mostly about disillusionment - but it has a great party vibe too."