Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
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Free Music Notes for Seven Swans
Free Music Review: Solid, folky album
Hit: 4 Stars
Seven Swans is a stripped-down, very folky CD. Heavily laden with banjo and acoustic guitars, the songs are some of Sufjan's most beautiful, emotional work.
The only reason I give this CD 4 instead of 5 stars is that it doesn't have that certain aura of experimentation I would expect from Sufjan's work. Instead, Seven Swans is a solid batch of folk songs for a mellow mood.
Free Music Review: Give Gospel-Folk a Chance.
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this album while playing Amazon hopscotch (jumping from one recommendation to another). From the very first listen, I was compelled to take it outside and sit in the sun.
The music is very stripped down, with usually no more than a banjo, an acoustic guitar, drums, and occasionally an organ here and there. This leaves it bare, rich, packed with emotion. Stevens' voice is much like Nick Drakes, smokey, but unafraid to rise and fall with the sweet lyrics he sings. He sounds so whistful, blended perfectly with the soft female vocals in the background.
With the climax of the album, the track Seven Swans, I was reduced to tears. Starting off slow, and building, quite like A Good Man is Hard To Find, but instead takes a sad turn, with the drums kicking in and piano playing. You listen to this track outside and you can almost feel the wind kicking up with the lyrics "Seven swans, Seven swans."
The entire album is powerful, and although it is nearly impossible to look past the strong roots in Christianity Sufjan Stevens has, Seven Swans allows the listener to sit down somewhere quiet and just appreaciate the beauty around them.
Take the emotional pangs of Broken Social Scene, invert the constant layering of instruments, and you have Sufjan Stevens.
Free Music Review: What a treat.
Hit: 5 Stars
Thanks to Sufjan for another amazing album. His previous offering "Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State" was a masterpiece, and on "Seven Swans" we get more of the mellow side of Sufjan. All the adjectives have allready been used to describe his music... beautiful, haunting, quirky, passionate, so I wont need to use them all in adding my praise and appreciation for his work, but the simple charm of Sufjan Stevens will amaze you, inspire you, and have you humming along.Free Music Review: Hauntingly Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
Like a soundtrack to a melancholy life, Sufjan Stevens "Seven Swans" floats ethereally over you as you listen to it. It's VERY similar in singing style to the Shins 2nd album (Chutes) but the instrumentation is pure simon and garfunkel. If you like folksy pop, a la paul simon - this is your album. It's not irreverant pop like Paul Simon though, it's heartfelt midwestern goodness. A+!Free Music Review: I Love The Banjo...
Hit: 5 Stars
And therefore, I love Sufjan Stevens' music. More specifically, I love this album. It has a plethora of banjo. Sufjan was the first artist I've heard who wasn't inclined to keep his banjo playing on a modest level. On "Seven Swans" you could even consider the banjo his primary instrument-almost.
So, I guess you could consider it ironic that my favorite track is "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", because it is completely absent of any banjos. But nevertheless, it has my favorite melody, albeit on an acoustic guitar. Half way through the song, it really picks up, adding organs, a chorus of female vocals and a sporadic beat. It's almost my favorite Sufjan song, but that still remains with "For The Widows In Paradise..." from his "Michigan" album. My next favorite track is "All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands." Now this song features no guitar, only Sufjan's banjo. And like most of my favorite songs on this album, this song progresses. Starting with just a banjo and Sufjan's vocals, a little further in a piano melody and female vocals are added, eventually adding a beat. The song just becomes more and more melodic (and hypnotic!) as it progresses. Next I will come to "In The Devil's Territory". This is the most harmonically layered track on the album. Sufjan implements just about every instrument he has ever used in his music, sans his really early work with wood flutes and I guess any wind instruments in general. But it has banjos, guitars, pianos, bass, an instrument I really can't identify acting as a kind of beat, and (unfortunately).... a saw. I cringe every time I hear the saw; I feel it was an unnessesary addition. Some how though, I can usually ignore it. Finally, I will end, like the album does, with "The Transfiguration". This is another song sporting mainly a banjo, but again progressing. As it progresses, horns, drums, xylophones, and another instrument I am having trouble identifying (clarinet?) are implemented. This song leads me to a discussion always addressed when reviewing Sufjan's work: his religious content.
Now, while I am agnostic, and more importantly: anti-organized religion, I can still find the sense to appreciate this music. It is very good, and can be respectable no matter your affiliations and/or beliefs. Sometimes Sufjan can lay his beliefs on pretty heavily, but in no way a preachy manner. It's mostly done through thick story telling, which I can openly dismiss as him and I simply not relating and just enjoying the melody. Other times, he is expressing his love, which he actually presents in a broad manner that you could relate to other things such as a love one. Hell, maybe that's even what he is doing; I'm not too good at analyzing artists' messages.
Overall, this is an amazing, beautiful album, a very worthy purchase. Apart from the aforementioned tracks, other stand outs include: "To Be Alone With You", "Size Too Small", "The Dress Looks Nice On You".