Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine have released two new tracks titled “You Give Death a Bad Name” and “Cimmerian Shade.” Both tracks are off their upcoming album A Beginner’s Mind which will drop on Sept. 2.

According to a press release, “A Beginner’s Mind’s 14 songs are inspired by films Sufjan and Angelo watched while writing together for a month at a friend’s cabin in upstate New York. Choosing a movie to unwind after each day’s work, they soon began finding inspiration in their nightly entertainment, using the Zen Buddhist concept of shoshin (literally “a beginner’s mind”), the I-Ching and Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies as guiding principles.”

Fascinatingly, “Cimmerian Shade” was written after the duo watched “Silence of the Lambs” and was written from the perspective of the antagonist of the film, serial killer Buffalo Bill. Angelo mused in the press release, “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.”

The two new tracks follow a handful of singles that have already been released off the album including, “Back To Oz,” “Fictional California,” “Reach Out” and “Olympus.”

Pre-order A Beginner’s Mind here.

Read an article from Relix on Sufjan Stevens here.

Listen to both new songs below:

A Beginner’s Mind Tracklist

1. Reach Out 3:43

2. Lady Macbeth In Chains 3:42

3. Back To Oz 4:25

4. The Pillar Of Souls 4:04

5. You Give Death A Bad Name 5:11

6. Beginner’s Mind 2:36

7. Olympus 3:07

8. Murder And Crime 3:43

9. (This Is) The Thing 3:13

10. It’s Your Own Body And Mind 2:27

11. Lost In The World 3:20

12. Fictional California 3:03

13. Cimmerian Shade 5:01

14. Lacrimae 2:05