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CRITIC REVIEWS
91
Like Elliott Smith after ten years of Sunday school.
91
He shares Smith's gift for sketching in complex emotional states with telling details.
90
Many of the songs continue to showcase Stevens' avid and passionate banjo-plucking, accompanied by similar harmonized vocals that resonate with beauty and commitment.
12y
81
Even if we're not taken by the subject matter, we're taken by how beautifully and personally Sufjan is taken by it.
12y
80
Stevens has a beautiful voice and a rare melodic instinct but it is the passion with which he performs these songs that causes them to communicate so much, so well.
12y
80
Like faith, these songs require patience, as their almost mantra-like arcs take their time to fully form.
12y
80
Due to the multitudes of quiet songs, Seven Swans is incredibly relaxing as long as one ignores the subject matter. The sweet tone of Sufjan’s vocals and the simplicity of acoustic guitar or banjo serenades with a wave of relaxing melodies. However, Seven Swans can be just as uplifting, thought-provoking, and epic if one pays attention to what Sufjan is really talking about.
10y
80
Stevens' strumming often has an unworldly quality that transcends folk archetypes.
80
Seven Swans is a record of remarkable delicacy.
77
This is still an auspicious album from a talented artist, but it lacks the punch and magic that Michigan had, and several of the songs come off sounding detrimentally uniform and indistinguishable.
60
So sweet is the harmonic construction that awareness of the ecclesiastical niceties of such as The Transfiguration ... is incidental to falling under the divine spell.
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3y
60
Stevens is ... smart enough to offset the egghead subject matter with a batch of deceptively simple tunes.
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11mo
a fun game to play if you're bored is to decide if every song on this album is about god or being gay
the ‘seven swans’ project feels like an epic work, especially when the holy moments hit: such as when sufjan meets lord during “seven swans”, or, when sufjan narrates the process of dying and growing wings on “we won’t need legs to stand”.
stevens exhibits a sense of unrelenting determination on this equably crazed folk album.
there are certain nonsecular events within ‘seven swans’ which completely impress. the underlying themes of ... read more
I wanna buy Sufjan a muffin
I do think this is quite a bit of a step down from Michigan, but I still like the project quite a bit and there are undeniably some fantastic songs. I’m not a very religious person, like at all, so some of the themes don’t really do much for me. That’s sort of okay though because I’m mostly a sound over lyrical sort of person when it comes to music, and some of these songs can be related to more than just that. I absolutely love the opener, ... read more
That one other album that comes up for me in people’s ratings when I search “Swans”
So Sufjan’s out here delivering yet another absolute banger right after the masterpiece that was Michigan. This album’s not as focused or ambitious as Michigan, but it’s still super amazing nonetheless. Lyrically it’s very very Christian, and also kinda (probably) gay lol. While it’s not quite as grand or epic as Michigan sonically, it still has quite a few ... read more
BECAUSE HE'S THE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o o o o o o o o o o o o ooooOooOooOooooOoooooord.
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Track List
| 1 | All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands 4:14 | 87 |
| 2 | The Dress Looks Nice on You 2:32 | 88 |
| 3 | In the Devil's Territory 4:57 | 87 |
| 4 | To Be Alone With You 2:48 | 91 |
| 5 | Abraham 2:33 | 81 |
| 6 | Sister 6:00 | 83 |
| 7 | Size Too Small 3:04 | 85 |
| 8 | We Won't Need Legs To Stand 2:16 | 78 |
| 9 | A Good Man Is Hard to Find 3:16 | 87 |
| 10 | He Woke Me Up Again 2:43 | 84 |
| 11 | Seven Swans 6:33 | 90 |
| 12 | The Transfiguration 5:18 | 92 |
Total Length: 46 minutes
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