In a folk music setting, there’s a strong air of storytelling, whether it’s straightforward or cryptic, and you’ll find that people are more likely to want to get lost in such a world, even if they feel that the story is fictional. And somehow, it works to speak of God and Jesus openly in such an environment, better than it often does to do it in, say, a trendy modern rock environment, where it can seem like you’re just trying to sound cool so you can get people’s attention and convert them. That doesn’t come at the expense of originality and songwriting that requires careful listening, though – Seven Swans has everything from creative takes on Bible stories, to warm reflections on human relationships (especially familial ones), to strange, experimental tunes. Not to say that God was completely absent from past recordings – but here, God is the theme. You see, this guy belongs to a rare breed of artists who can address the Christian faith openly in his songwriting without losing his artistic touch or critical acclaim. I guess it could be said that Seven Swans is also a return to Sufjan’s first love in a spiritual sense. of A.) have found him experimenting with an array of different instruments, his latest record Seven Swans finds him returning to his apparent first love. But Sufjan’s favorite instrument is actually the banjo, and while past efforts such as the ode to his home state Michigan (supposedly the first in a series of 50 records about the good old U. While he will sometimes pile on elements for more of a cluttered, grandiose feel, he also doesn’t mind the stark, acoustic guitar based ballad. He just does what he likes, keeping a very “indie” attitude as he takes a variety of instrumental flavors and arranges them in often minimalist ways, allowing the music to serve the song instead of burying it. Sufjan Stevens is one of those guys who works within the world of folk music, but who doesn’t confine it to the repetitive droning of one guy and a few simple guitar chords, or beef everything up with pop production for mass consumption. That spreads the word more effectively anyway. I’ll just stick with telling you virtual internet people about him. I’d love to tell my real-time friends that in person, but unfortunately, I don’t know how to pronounce this guy’s name. In Brief: It’s not as grandiose as Sufjan’s Michigan project, but it’s a thoughtful, sometimes experimental blend of faith and folk music, and a great place to start if you’ve never heard of the guy.
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