John Legend’s Sufjan Stevens-produced kids album My Favorite Dream is out today. The project features nine original songs by Legend, three Fisher-Price covers, and three bonus tracks. Some have expressed confusion over why a figure like Stevens, who has built a long-running career out of high-concept indie-pop, would team up with a schlocky (my words, let the record show) piano balladeer like Legend, whose music evokes images of father-daughter wedding dances. But in a rare interview with the Los Angeles Times, Stevens shed some light on his decision.

“He’s a shape-shifter. I could feel the curiosity behind what he does,” Stevens said of Legend, also noting how the “All Of Me” singer gave him “total creative freedom” in crafting arrangements.

“One of the main reasons I decided to do John’s album is because I hadn’t been able to really work on anything outside of self-care and rehabilitation,” he said, referencing the recent death of his partner, Evans Richardson, and his own diagnosis with Guillain-Barré syndrome. “I finally wanted to get back to work, but I didn’t really have the mental capacity to write my own music. This stuff felt wholesome and pure and safe.

“I think there’s also a general apocalyptic anxiety that pervades a lot of our culture today,” Stevens continued. “What I love about these songs is that they focus on the kinds of aphorisms that speak directly to our fears and worries. You don’t have to be a kid to appreciate what he’s singing about.”

My Favorite Dream is out now on John Legend Music/Republic.