Sufjan Stevens is celebrating the 20th anniversary, of Asthmatic Kitty Records (Angelo De Augustine) with Seven Swans (Deluxe Edition), dropping June 21st with an expanded version of the original album with special physical editions, out June 21st. In this new anniversary edition, the LP is accompanied by a flexi-disc featuring the album’s original b-sides “I Went Dancing With My Sister” and “Waste of What Your Kids Won’t Have,” which also appear on the digital version for the first time.

Seven Swans arrived less than a year after his 2003 album, Michigan and his much-publicized announcement to write an album for each of the 50 states. First released by Sounds Familyre in March 2004, Seven Swans marked a rare instance of Stevens ceding control as a producer. Working with Daniel Smith, the leader of the folk collective Danielson Famile, Stevens tracked these songs in Clarksboro, New Jersey, utilizing Smith’s home studio and recording space in the New Jerusalem Rec Room. When Smith chose to accompany Stevens.

Stevens himself has frequently reinterpreted this material over the years. If you caught his 2006 tour with the “Illinoisemakers” band, you may have seen him emerge on stage with wings affixed to his back, leading his accompanists through an electric, Crazy Horse-style overture that comprises more than half the runtime of “Sister.” On the technicolor live shows behind 2011’s noise-pop overhaul The Age of Adz, Stevens opened his sets with Seven Swans’ bracing title track, embellishing its operatic arc with newfound drama and theatrics.

Sufjan Stevens
Seven Swans (Deluxe Edition)
Tracklist

1. All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands
2. The Dress Looks Nice on You
3. In the Devil’s Territory
4. To Be Alone with You
5. Abraham
6. Sister
7. Size Too Small
8. We Won’t Need Legs to Stand
9. A Good Man Is Hard to Find
10. He Woke Me Up Again
11. Seven Swans
12. The Transfiguration

Bonus

1. I Went Dancing with My Sister
2. Waste of What Your Kids Won’t Have

Pre-order Seven Swans deluxe HERE