I caught Sufjan and the noisemakers on Austin City Limits the other night (morning really). I was pleasantly surprised that one of the four songs feautured was "The Dress Looks Nice On You." it is one of the songs that I truly treasure from this disc.

Seven Swans is not Illinoise. Where Illinoise is all about grandeur, beauty and story-telling, Seven Swans is about reflection, mystery and transformation. I find this to be some of Mr. Stevens's most compelling music.

"All The Trees Of The Fields Will Clap Their Hands" is my favorite song here by far. And that is saying something. There is not a weak song on this disc.

This is wonderful music that means something. You can't put a price on that.

I recommend this CD.

Wow - I was really happy upon listening to this album - I of course had high expectations after "Michigan" - and though I would not say this album surpasses that one, it is certainly quite good - very good indeed. The instrumentation is lovely - acoustic almost exclusively with banjo and guitar - the songs are great and Sufjan's singing is very hushed and sweet - like he's whispering us secrets - reminding sometimes of Iron and Wine...highlights include "the dress looks nice on you", "to be alone with you" - which a had hoped would be a Dylan cover, but it wasn't - but it was a very well, maybe superior song with the same title...also, "he woke me up again" is excellent. Highly recomended - as well as "Michigan". "A sun came" is good too, but Sufjan has certainly honed his skills and become more consistently good since that debut...sorry for rambling, enjoy!

Sufjan Stevens has a way of making a song sound like a prayer. His voice is almost a whisper, not forced, at ease, filled with a grace that is so touching, you want to pray with him. In this age of conservative religious righteousness, it's refreshing to listen to a talent who can share his tender thoughts about God without judging, without jingoism and without preaching. This is a spirituality that is personal and real. Stevens also creates an angelic sound out of all things - a banjo - that plucks and dances with a purity so stark, you'd think the angels traded in their harp and made that quirky country guitar the offical instrument of heaven. From the first track, the majestically and achingly beautiful, "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" - until the last "Transfiguration", Sufyan's deep contemplation of God, his love of his faith, and even the temptations of the devil come into fold. It's a spiritual and intellectual voice that set's Sufyan apart from most artists out there. The songs are so gorgeous in melody and texture, that I tend to wake up in the middle of the night hearing them in my head. Although "Seven Swans" may not be as punchy, and epic as his last album "Greetings from Michigan...", it shows him to be a dynamic indie artist taking new directions, down a path that God has given him. We're lucky to walk down that path with him. This is just a beauty of an album.

There are few albums that have impacted me over the years on the spiritual, mental, and artistic levels like Seven Swans has impacted me. Frankly, this album overwhelms me. It is simple and deep at the same time. Sufjan Stevens has proven himself to be a consummate singer songwriter. This is an album of sparse guitars, banjos, stripped down drums, sprinkles of keys along with open spiritual songs. With Sufjan's Michigan gaining such notoriety, I find it brave that he released a set of songs that were so openly religious and so strikingly honest. At the same time, he is able to do what few artists have done in the past. He is able to express his religious ideals without making his music cliché or over-the-top. He blends his own whimsical, breathtaking style but with a more personal approach on "Swans".

"All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" begins the album with slow-tempo banjo and Sufjan's endearing voice. There are beautiful, female BVG's laced throughout the song and hints of piano. Sufjan uses the BVG's to build the song and then adds stripped down drums towards the end. Although the layers of the song are subtle, they are progressively beautiful in their simplicity. Lyrically, this song really sets the listener up for the rest of the LP's content. He expresses his need for a relationship with God and all that entails. Sufjan softly sings, "And I am throwing all my thoughts away / And I'm destroying every bit I've made / And I am joining all my thought to You / And I'm preparing every part for You." "The Dress Looks Nice on You" is a mid-tempo acoustic song with some eastern flavor thrown in. "In the Devil's Territory" is an acoustic layered piece with a classical/eastern feel. Sufjan throws in keys in the bridge giving it an "out of this world" flavor, connecting the spiritual content with that of the music. Lyrically, "Devil's" mixes images of the second coming and those of the beast with the church's longing to see the Christ. Although these images could be used in a cliché sort of way, Sufjan somehow paints the images with beautiful, poetic brushes and really conveys a feeling of anticipation for His coming.

"To Be Alone with You" is probably my favorite track on the entire LP. Here, Michigan makes another appearance in his lyrics. For me, this song embodies the power of this disc and is a pivotal track on the record. There is no crescendo in the music and very little build in that respect. Rather, Sufjan builds the song solely through lyrics, and does so masterfully.

I'd swim across Lake Michigan

I'd sell my shoes

I'd give my body to back again

In the rest of the room

To be alone with you (x4)

You gave your body to the lonely

They took your clothes

You gave up a wife and family

You gave your ghost

To be alone with me (x3)

You went up on the tree.

I never known a man who loved me.

Sufjan is simple, yet poignant. He lets the music really express what he is saying in words. Sufjan not only uses simple relational concepts between him and God as content, but he also takes Bible stories and retells them through song, such as "Abraham" and "The Transfiguration". "Abraham" is only 2:33 minutes in length, yet Sufjan says just enough about Abraham and his willingness to obey God's command to sacrifice his son to be powerful. "The Transfiguration" basically tells the story of Jesus' transfiguration found in the Gospels. This is done over banjo, beautiful female BVG's, xylophone, and horns.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this album. It is perfect, and I don't say this about just any album.

The ability of this guy to gracefully articulate a personal spirituality is on the level of

and

. Banjo and acoustic guitar take prominence here but they often get overshadowed by organ, synths or electric guitar through the course of a song so that what starts out as simple, minimalist 1970s voice & strumming may end in a rousing symphony, with many stages in between. Yet both lyrics and music remain accessible throughout. Fragile at times but never precious, the sound resonates on mystical and magical wavelengths.

Although many of the songs have intricate and complex arrangements, two distinct styles seem to characterize the album. The acoustic guitar type includes That Dress Looks Nice On You, the yearning To Be Alone With You, the somber Abraham, Size Too Small and A Good Man Is Hard To Find. They at least all commence with guitar before evolving into multilayered soundscapes and are generally of a slower tempo, often containing brooding vocals. One hears faint echoes of

or even

- the introspective singer-songwriter archetype.

The Banjo-driven numbers exhibit a more ecstatic type of devotional expression, tending to be on the mid to uptempo side with addictive melodious and percussive textures. The mood varies sharply, from the exultant praise of All The Trees Of The Field through the eerie track In The Devil's Territory with its ominous synth patterns to the hopeful We Won't Need Legs To Stand with its atmospheric synth-scapes. Plus you get the comforting and reassuring He Woke Me Up Again, the intense Seven Swans with its eschatological imagery and the pure ecstatic joy of The Transfiguration.

The melancholy track Sister is in a category of its own: electric guitars with echo and twangs are joined by choral voices for a long instrumental intro on a gently lilting beat until the almost whispered male vocal arrives and the arrangement takes another turn. I was reminded of Michael Gira's first

album.

The absolute highlights are He Woke Me Up with its tender oneiric quality, stirring organ and haunting backing vocals not unlike the track Warm on

by Swans, the title track where the still, small voice of the Lord triggers a rousing choral exuberance, and the majestic Transfiguration.

I love Seven Swans much more than the admittedly brilliant

. This is not rock music and hardly folk either, nor gospel at all. I would say it has a multifaceted devotional essence which expresses itself via a rich variety of styles whilst remaining perfectly cohesive. The effect is uplifting, inspiring and psychologically salubrious, like the Balm of Gilead.