''Seven Swans'' is a folk rock music album by

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

, released on March 16, 2004 on Sounds Familyre Records. It is Stevens' fourth studio album and features songs about

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

spiritual themes, figures such as

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

, and

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

's Transfiguration. The songs are primarily "lush acoustic compositions" with Stevens' banjo. It was recorded and produced by Daniel C. Smith, Sufjan's close friend. The album was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

by Sounds Familyre Records and

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

; the vinyl was released by

Burnt Toast Vinyl Burnt Toast Vinyl is an independent record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Burnt Toast Vinyl was founded by Scott Hatch, a Drexel University student who had initially been involved with concert promotion at the school. The la ...

Critical reception

''Seven Swans'' has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 23 reviews at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, indicating a "universal acclaim" rating from the site. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it "a record of remarkable delicacy" and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' described the album as sounding "like

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

after ten years of

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

". In December 2004, American webzine ''Somewhere Cold'' ranked ''Seven Swans'' No. 3 on their ''2004 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame'' list.

Thematic elements

Many of the songs on Seven Swans tell stories directly from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. "Abraham" references the bible story wherein

is tested by God and told to sacrifice his only son

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

. Abraham, at the last moment and with knife in hand, is stopped by an angel and instead sacrifices a ram to God. The final song, "Transfiguration", is a "bittersweet note of Jesus' requisite suffering". "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" is based on a first-person account by The Misfit character from Flannery O'Connor short story of the same name. The lyrics of the title song, "Seven Swans," loosely allude to the events of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

Track listing

All tracks written by Sufjan Stevens. #"All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" – 4:14 #"The Dress Looks Nice on You" – 2:32 #"In the Devil's Territory" – 4:57 #"To Be Alone with You" – 2:44 #"Abraham" – 2:33 #"Sister" – 6:00 #"Size Too Small" – 3:04 #"We Won't Need Legs to Stand" – 2:12 #"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" – 3:16 #"He Woke Me Up Again" – 2:43 #"Seven Swans" – 6:33 #"The Transfiguration" – 5:18 Bonus 7" #"I Went Dancing with My Sister" #"Waste of What Your Kids Won't Have"

Personnel

*Sufjan Stevens – composition and performance *Laura Normandin –

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

*Rafter Roberts – mastering *Andrew Smith –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Daniel Smith –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

at his home studio and the New Jerusalem Rec Room in

Clarksboro, New Jersey Clarksboro is an unincorporated community and historic area located in the municipality of East Greenwich Township in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Notable people People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise clos ...

*David Smith – drums *Megan Smith – vocals *Marzuki Stevens – artwork *Elin Smith - vocals

Seven Swans Reimagined

In 2011 a cover album reimagining the songs from Seven Swans was released. Many of the artists featured on this album had worked with Stevens in the past.

Track listing

"The Dress Looks Nice on You"

A 7"

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

of "The Dress Looks Nice on You" was released by Rough Trade in support of the album on March 8, 2004. The single features the song "Borderline" as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. #"The Dress Looks Nice on You" – 2:32 #"Borderline" – 3:25

References

External links

Rough Trade official website
{{Authority control 2004 albums Sufjan Stevens albums Concept albums Christian music albums by American artists Burnt Toast Vinyl albums Sounds Familyre Records albums