Sufjan Stevens continues to build a deserved amount of attention with his fourth solo album. On Seven Swans,the multi-instrumentalist continues in the trends set forward byearlier releases by creating some powerful pop tunes with a deceptivelyminimal amount of effort. I'm almost taken back to my affinity tohearing Red House Painters in the beginning of Mark Kozelek's career.The lyrics are introspective windows into the author's psyche while themusic is simple and discreet and equally as vulnerable. I truly hopeSufjan doesn't follow the path of the Painters and become an overblownwall of proto-classical rock-by-numbers in a few years time. Theinstrumentation here is perfect for my ears. His musical goal seems tobe to use only what's necessary and not excessively add more that caneither cloud the music or be more than what an independent labelproduction can afford. As a result, acoustic guitar, piano, and hissignature banjo playing are frequently unaccompanied by drums.Lyrically, the album is mostly focused on the themes of relationships,god, and Stevens' relationship to god. As an agnostic, biblicalreferences and the like are completely lost on me, however that's notstopped me in the past from falling in love with music from AmericanMusic Club or Low. While the album is a great listen from start tofinish, I'm reminded of last year's Greetings from Michigan, asthere's that one standout track which strikes an emotional chord withme and will probably end up on numerous mix CDs and radio shows for along time until I get sick of hearing it over and over again. The trackhere is "In the Devil's Territory," where a seemingly simple chordprogression is played by doubled notes in a waltzing time signature.It's somewhat ambiguous songs like that and "Size Too Small," whereSufjan sings about being a best man in a size too small, askingquestions of love and committment that attract me for more listens,while every other song are undeniably pretty treats along the way.Stevens gets assistance from Daniel Smith of Danielson Famile alongwith a bunch of other Smiths, but his live crew is small and simplefrom what I heard on a recent on-air radio interview/in-studioperformance. I personally don't buy into the whole hype surrounding Greetings from Michigan, with respect to plans to record an album for each state, as there's a notable number of references on Seven Swansto Michigan. Enjoy this album now and don't count on something that'llmost likely be regarded as only an overblown rumor years from now.Read More
