On “Video Game,” the second single from Sufjan Stevens’ forthcoming album The Ascension, the singer-songwriter gazes outward at the nation that still considers itself the most powerful on Earth. The midtempo, soft-rocking synth-pop here becomes a Trojan horse for a refusenik idealism. Your own personal Jesus? The center of the universe? A modern-day Julius Caesar? Stevens rejects all these potential roles, and resume-building careerism to boot, repeating in the chorus, “I don’t wanna play.” As on Lana Del Rey’s early hit “Video Games,” the titular pastime also takes on a sly double meaning, as the video—directed by former Pitchfork interactive designer Nicole Ginelli, and starring “Renegade” viral dance creator Jalaiah Harmon—wonderfully hijacks the same mindless system that it critiques. What does Sufjan want? “To be my own redeemer,” he sings, and “to be my own believer.” It’s a stirring call to have faith in yourself, coated sweetly enough to reach a country that may need that message now more than ever. Once again, Stevens leads by example.