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Album Details

• Artist: Sufjan Stevens
• Album: Seven Swans
• Label: Sounds Familyre
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-07-08

You've heard it before in magazine articles but quiet is indeed the new loud. Folk-rock artists such as Sufjan Stevens are getting more and more exposure. Even on the small Sounds Familyre label, Seven Swans is really touching many people. Sufjan is a magical songwriter and is definitely not new to the scene. Seven Swans was recorded with Danielson Famile main-man Daniel Smith. It proves to be a great choice, be it the familiarity Daniel has with Sufjan or vice versa, the production is one of the first things you notice on this gentle and primarily acoustic album. You tend to feel a reflective tone in Stevens songs. They are all quiet and mellow, sometimes just relying on Sufjan and gently plucked guitar. Even as that, songs like "Abraham" seem so much bigger than just the components making it up. The album opens up with symphonic sounds of "All The Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands", leading the way with a banjo, an instrument we hear quite a bit from on Seven Swans. We don't get to hear drums until "Sister" clicks on but even then it's an ever gentle pace. There are similarities between what Sufjan is doing here and Sam Beam's Iron and Wine project. I would like to suggest that the two do a split album in the future. Seven Swans is an accomplishment and an album that we will definitely see on some year-end lists.

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