Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Album: Seven Swans
Label: Sounds Familyre
Tracks: 12
Length: 46:42
Review by: Mike “Billy Ray” Leech

So God created the world right? And He also made the sun, moon, stars, animals, plants, colors, sounds, smells, emotions and sensations too? Then He went and made people in His own image, correct? So one could make the argument that God, in a roundabout sort of way, created music as well. Are you with me so far? Well what I, as a follower and full-fledged supporter of God's, have been trying to figure out for as long as I can remember is how He can be (literally) the most creative being ever, while the vast majority of His musically-inclined devotees can be so predictably and painfully unoriginal. Are Christian musicians just too scared to try new things, or are they striving so hard to sound like and substitute the music of the world (think about that one for a while) that they've forgotten how to make use of their God-given ingenuity? My ongoing struggle with this somewhat frustrating paradox makes listening to the music of someone like Sufjan Stevens all the more satisfying.

Now just to clarify, you don't have to be a Christian to appreciate Stevens’ music. He makes no bones about his faith, but he’s not out to convert anyone with his music, and his lyrics aren’t penned in Christianese. Though his name may be a little hard to interpret (Soof-yon Stee-venz), the beautiful music emanating from his banjo strings and vocal chords speaks for itself. And the icing on the cake... Sufjan Stevens is incredibly creative. Seven Swans is his much anticipated follow-up to the 2003 sleeper hit, Greetings from Michigan, which was my second favorite album of last year (buy it!).

Contrary to popular belief, Seven Swans is not a collection of songs swept up from the cutting room floor of the Greetings from Michigan studio sessions. The songs on this album were actually written over a year before Michigan, and much like its technical predecessor, Seven Swans is full of starkly intimate and refreshingly intelligent folk music, although the arrangements are a lot less layered this time around.

Most of the songs are simply banjo or acoustic finger picking accompanied by Stevens’ boyish whisper and little else--the results of which can be pretty stunning at times. The very Nick Drake reminiscent “To Be Alone With You” and “Abraham” are excellent examples of this. Just like on Michigan, however, Stevens can’t keep quiet for long. “In the Devil’s Territory” starts out simple enough with some jagged banjo strumming before gradually building layer upon layer to a huge and majestic, choral climax. The album’s title track follows the same format to create one of the most worshipful and reverent hymns I’ve ever heard--or maybe “experienced” would be a better word.

While Greetings from Michigan would probably be the best place to start if you’re interested in falling in love with the music of Sufjan Stevens (and face it... you know you should), Seven Swans will serve as the next logical step on your journey. It may not be the flawlessly epic album that Michigan was, but its informal production and sparse, messy arrangements give Seven Swans a much warmer and more personal feel.

This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year thus far. Sufjan Stevens has joined the ranks of Pedro the Lion, The Danielson Famile and Starflyer 59 as another extremely talented Christian musician that also knows how to get their creative juices flowin'. After He had spent all that energy creating the universe and everything, I sure am glad that God found the time to make such a unique and undeniably gifted singer/songwriter as Sufjan Stevens.

() <---Scratch that.


Five Months Later........

I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, but holy crap...  This album is amazing!!  I can't believe I didn't give it four stars to begin with.  I should have given it five stars!  The title track gives me chills every time I hear it, and "In the Devil's Territory" is honestly one of the best songs I've ever heard, period.  Please forgive my initial lapse in judgement.  I am young.