Chris Schlarb’s Twilight & Ghost Stories is one of the most unique musical projects to come along in years, and is just as interesting for the story behind it as for the music itself. Schlarb enlisted a wide variety of musicians — most notably label-mate Sufjan Stevens — to submit small scraps of musical arrangements, which Schlarb then stitched into a 39-minute modern symphony.

The album begins the same way Schlarb’s idea did — with the sound of the rain hitting the street outside his house. After recording that, the idea for the album began to take shape, though it took four years to complete. The first few tracks meander through subtle horn blasts and cymbal washes as the rain provides a steady backdrop. Around the halfway point, the arrangements get more manic, making drastic changes with more regularity, before settling into a calmer, piano-based conclusion.

With over 100 individual instrument tracks scattered throughout the album’s 10 songs, Twilight was surely a monstrous undertaking. It’s also a monumental achievement, packing an overwhelming amount of material into a surprisingly coherent record.