Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine release "Cimmerian Shade" and "You Give Death A Bad Name"

The latest tracks from A Beginner's Mind land after previous singles "Back To Oz", "Fictional California", "Reach Out" and "Olympus". The first song "Cimmerian Shade" is inspired by Silence of the Lambs, while "You Give Death A Bad Name" is inspired by Night of the Living Dead.

De Augustine says of "Cimmerian Shade", "Many authors have emotional attachments to the characters they create. But in this instance, I was interested in how a character felt about being created. In my imagination I was giving consciousness to someone else’s creation. The song is essentially a dialogue between creation and creator that seeks to find understanding to some of the same questions that we ask ourselves about existence, free will, fate, purpose, guidance, and if anyone or anything out there is listening or cares."

A Beginner's Mind is inspired by films Stevens and De Augustine watched together during a month-long songwriting break.