Opinion | Opening our minds at the movies

 Caden McQueen, opinions editor 

Whenever I listen to singer-songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Angelo di Augustine’s “Reach Out” — the opening track on their new album “A Beginner’s Mind” — it always conjures up a few specific mental images. 

A gorgon opens her eyes, offering a new sort of enlightenment to all who meet her stony gaze. Two puppies chase each other through seas of wild flowers. Vague memories of a now distant childhood, which offer a faint warmth. All of these visions flash before my mind’s eye as I let the duo’s soothing voices wash over my ears. 

Others’ experiences with “Reach Out” will certainly be different. Stevens and Augustine’s lyrics are so abstract and introspective that no two people could interpret them the same way. 

Yet despite how personal the song may be, there is at least one commonality that can likely be found among the plethora of ways it can be understood: without the necessary context, I doubt anyone deciphered that the track was based on Wim Wenders’ 1987 film “Wings of Desire.”

And that is precisely why I adore “A Beginner’s Mind” so much. It’s name is a reference to the Zen Buddhist practice of the same title; to achieve a “beginner’s mind” requires the abandonment of one’s preconceived notions about a subject in order to perceive it as an eager, open-hearted beginner would. 

Stevens and Augustine’s applied the concept in respect to watching and singing about films, in a mode of film analysis that is just as unique as it is insightful.

 “A Beginner’s Mind” is the product of collaboration between singer-songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Angelo di Augustine. Photo illustration by MAYA BRAUNWARTH, Staff Photographer

On the album’s official website, the central conceit is laid bare: “It’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture (impossible and absurd). But what about singing about movies?”

Crafted over a month-long sabbatical in the lush forests of upstate New York, “A Beginner's Mind” comprises of 14 songs that attempt to answer that question. The pair of songwriters took inspiration from a wide variety of films, ranging from bargain bin fare like “Bring It on: Again” (2004) to Australian classics “Mad Max” (1979) and “The Last Wave” (1977). 

And although these inspirations may be more literal in some tracks than others, there is a sense of genuine, free association in every song on the album. 

The title track, “Beginner’s Mind,” was written after Stevens and Augustine watched Kathryn Bigelow’s “Point Break” (1991).  In stark contrast to the film’s bodacious tone, the song is quiet and bleak. “Life was just a new way to die,” Stevens croons as a sad piano echoes around him. Is he referring to the film’s blatant disregard for life, or perhaps some self-destructive emotion of his own?   

The thrill of “A Beginner’s Mind” is finding that out for yourself. Each song is dense with meaning, and — when approached with the same Zen Buddhist concept that Stevens and Augustine named the album after — offers great opportunities to have free associative experiences of your own. 

“A Beginner’s Mind” is a deeply emotional, wholly original album. I cannot recommend it enough.