Qobuz Store wallpaper
Categories:
Cart 0

Your cart is empty

Sufjan Stevens|Seven Swans

Seven Swans

Sufjan Stevens

Available in
16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Subscribe

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

After completing the first installment of his planned series of 50 records -- one album dedicated to each state in the U.S. -- indie folk overachiever Sufjan Stevens returned with Seven Swans, a collection of stripped-down, introspective musings on life, love, and faith that chart the geographic location of the heart and soul. Many of these themes were dealt with eloquently on Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State, presenting the singer/multi-instrumentalist as a first-rate interpreter of the human condition, as well as a gifted musician. The 12 tracks on Swans yield the same bounty, but with a leaner arsenal, due to Stevens' sparse arrangements and production from Danielson Famile mastermind Daniel Smith. Fellow Famile members Elin, Megan, David, and Andrew -- who also appeared on The Great Lakes State -- lend their vocal and percussion talents to the mix, resulting in a surreal campfire environment that's part confessional and part processional. Beginning with the gorgeously titled "All the Trees in the Field Will Clap Their Hands," Stevens saunters out of the gate with nary an overdub to be heard, letting the banjo lead the parade, slowly picking up piano, percussion, and the angelic voices of Megan and Elin before disappearing over the hilltop. He channels Bert Jansch on the love song "The Dress Looks Nice on You" and Eric Matthews on "To Be Alone With You," striking a winning balance of '60s British folk and indie Americana. Like the Violent Femmes' seminal pseudo-Christian masterpiece, Hallowed Ground, Seven Swans treats religion with simplicity and sincerity, approaching the subject with an almost feverish peacefulness. "Abraham," "We Won't Need Legs to Stand," and "He Woke Me Up Again," with its fiery, overdriven organ, are all effective tomes of the singer's faith, but that faith can be tested. Stevens is quite aware of the dark, and no more so than on the Flannery O'Connor-inspired "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," a first-person murder narrative that reveals a subtle current of menace only hinted at in the earlier portion of the record. Like faith, these songs require patience, as their almost mantra-like arcs take their time to fully form. By the time he reaches the spirited closer, "Transfiguration," an affirming take on the Gospels that reaches an almost Polyphonic Spree crescendo, the listener has no choice but to conform -- if only for the length of the record -- to the writer's unabashed spirituality, and at just under 45 minutes, it's an easy choice to make.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

More info

Seven Swans

Sufjan Stevens

launch qobuz app I already downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS Open

download qobuz app I have not downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS yet Download the Qobuz app

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From €13,50/month

1
All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands
00:04:14

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

2
The Dress Looks Nice on You
00:02:32

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

3
In the Devil's Territory
00:04:57

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

4
To Be Alone With You
00:02:48

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

5
Abraham
00:02:33

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

6
Sister
00:06:00

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

7
Size Too Small
00:03:04

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

8
We Won't Need Legs To Stand
00:02:16

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

9
A Good Man Is Hard to Find
00:03:16

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

10
He Woke Me Up Again
00:02:43

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

11
Seven Swans
00:06:33

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

12
The Transfiguration
00:05:18

Sufjan Stevens, Artist, MainArtist

2004 Asthmatic Kitty 2004 Asthmatic Kitty

Album review

After completing the first installment of his planned series of 50 records -- one album dedicated to each state in the U.S. -- indie folk overachiever Sufjan Stevens returned with Seven Swans, a collection of stripped-down, introspective musings on life, love, and faith that chart the geographic location of the heart and soul. Many of these themes were dealt with eloquently on Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State, presenting the singer/multi-instrumentalist as a first-rate interpreter of the human condition, as well as a gifted musician. The 12 tracks on Swans yield the same bounty, but with a leaner arsenal, due to Stevens' sparse arrangements and production from Danielson Famile mastermind Daniel Smith. Fellow Famile members Elin, Megan, David, and Andrew -- who also appeared on The Great Lakes State -- lend their vocal and percussion talents to the mix, resulting in a surreal campfire environment that's part confessional and part processional. Beginning with the gorgeously titled "All the Trees in the Field Will Clap Their Hands," Stevens saunters out of the gate with nary an overdub to be heard, letting the banjo lead the parade, slowly picking up piano, percussion, and the angelic voices of Megan and Elin before disappearing over the hilltop. He channels Bert Jansch on the love song "The Dress Looks Nice on You" and Eric Matthews on "To Be Alone With You," striking a winning balance of '60s British folk and indie Americana. Like the Violent Femmes' seminal pseudo-Christian masterpiece, Hallowed Ground, Seven Swans treats religion with simplicity and sincerity, approaching the subject with an almost feverish peacefulness. "Abraham," "We Won't Need Legs to Stand," and "He Woke Me Up Again," with its fiery, overdriven organ, are all effective tomes of the singer's faith, but that faith can be tested. Stevens is quite aware of the dark, and no more so than on the Flannery O'Connor-inspired "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," a first-person murder narrative that reveals a subtle current of menace only hinted at in the earlier portion of the record. Like faith, these songs require patience, as their almost mantra-like arcs take their time to fully form. By the time he reaches the spirited closer, "Transfiguration," an affirming take on the Gospels that reaches an almost Polyphonic Spree crescendo, the listener has no choice but to conform -- if only for the length of the record -- to the writer's unabashed spirituality, and at just under 45 minutes, it's an easy choice to make.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

About the album

Distinctions:

Improve album information

Qobuz logo Why buy on Qobuz...

On sale now...

Keep Your Courage

Natalie Merchant

Keep Your Courage Natalie Merchant

The Köln Concert (Live at the Opera, Köln, 1975)

Keith Jarrett

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco

Dropout Boogie

The Black Keys

Dropout Boogie The Black Keys
More on Qobuz
By Sufjan Stevens

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

Illinois Sufjan Stevens

Reflections

Sufjan Stevens

Reflections Sufjan Stevens

A Beginner's Mind

Sufjan Stevens

A Beginner's Mind Sufjan Stevens

Carrie & Lowell

Sufjan Stevens

Carrie & Lowell Sufjan Stevens

Javelin

Sufjan Stevens

Javelin Sufjan Stevens
You may also like...

It Leads To This

The Pineapple Thief

It Leads To This The Pineapple Thief

Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd

Lana Del Rey

Born To Die

Lana Del Rey

Born To Die Lana Del Rey

Memento Mori

Depeche Mode

Memento Mori Depeche Mode

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Billie Eilish