Any record that reveals itself with the opening line: "If I am alive this time next year", is probably going to be something special.
Sufjan Stevens is among the most eminent talents to emerge from the US underground in recent years. His last album "Greetings From Michigan - The Great Lakes State" was a marvellous achievement - full of swooping baroque arrangements and canny songs. London's Rough Trade record shop named it their third best LP of 2003 and, having paid tribute to his Detroit homeland, the singer plans to make individual albums for every other State in the US - potentially a lifetime's work.
While we wait for the remainder of that 50-piece collection Stevens has given us "Seven Swans". These twelve mediations on his Christian faith are stripped to a minimalist core but carry considerable emotional weight. Gently plucked banjos create hypnotic melodies like the first shower of spring rain and are complimented by the occasional ghostly female voice courtesy of fellow Danielson Famile members Elin and Megan Smith or a solitary keyboard. David Smith's rudimentary drumming is utilised so sparingly that when it does feature, like at the end of opening number, "All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands", the effect is quietly shattering.
Stevens' whispered voice is a close cousin of the late lamented Elliott Smith (or the merely lamented Eric Matthews) and can hold a tune beautifully. "To Be Alone With You" rides a melody of pure devotion while "In The Devil's Territory" is Mercury Rev's "Deserter's Songs" played in the backwoods. A theremin drives it ever upwards into one of the most beautiful songs you're likely to hear all year.
The religious imagery grows stronger in time and concludes with the epic storytelling of the title track (with it's impassioned cry of "He is the Lord!") and "The Transfiguration". The latter winds a Beatles-esque melody around apocalyptic themes of the Lamb Of God. You can imagine David Koresh singing it as the Waco compound disintegrated into ash.
If the thought of such iconography is off-putting then don't be alarmed. This is a far cry from the pesky door knocking of god botherers. "Seven Swans" is as a graceful tour de force of an album - beguiling, bewitching and beautiful. More spiritual than religious.
Who says the devil has all the best tunes?
by Adam Webb