Sufjan Stevens recruits St. Vincent, Chris Thile, Moses Sumney for his Oscars performance

First up: Annie Clark, who was once a member of Stevens’ touring band for Illinois, back in her old, pre-St. Vincent days. Clark will be joined by Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers’ Chris Thile—“the greatest living mandolin player on the planet,” in Stevens’ words—who appears, uncredited, on the studio version of the song. They’ll be rounded out by an appearance by Moses Sumney, the soul singer-songwriter who’s frequently served as an opener for the Carrie & Lowell singer. All-in-all, it’s a pretty kickass collection of Stevens’ past collaborators (even if it still won’t be good enough to convince the Academy to let him play the whole damn beautiful song for once).