Javelin

Javelin was released on 6 October 2023 on Asthmatic Kitty, led by the singles So You Are Tired on 14 August, then Will Anybody Ever Love Me? and A Running Start. Stevens made it mostly alone in his home studio, with vocal harmonies from Adrienne Maree Brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui and Nedelle Torrisi and acoustic and electric guitar from Bryce Dessner of the National. The record is dedicated to his partner Evans Richardson, who died in April 2023, as Stevens wrote on Instagram on its release day. It ends with a cover of There's a World from Neil Young's 1972 album Harvest, and the release came with a 48-page book of visual art and ten short essays.

Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky gave it Best New Music and noted that it runs under 45 minutes and that Shit Talk lasts eight. Metacritic gave it 87 from 22 reviews. Mojo's James McNair praised the baroque recorders of My Red Little Fox, and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis called it a holistic album that flows rather than fractures. It sold 4,335 units in its first week in the UK. In 2024 Rolling Stone placed its cover 39th on a list of the fifty worst album covers.