What does it sound like?:
The last album of the current line-up is business as usual for this incarnation of the band: eight long songs (overall running time, two hours), each more cauterised than the last, Gira howling and screaming, the Swans men thrashing away. It ebbs and flows masterfully. It throws up half a dozen ‘moments’ (Swans, the archetypal ‘moments’ band) that are worthy of anything in the band’s back catalogue, and the appearance of of Gira’s wife, Jennifer, on the highlight ‘When Will I Return’ and ‘Finally, Peace’ hints at what I hope is a future direction for the band (I hope this because my favourite era of the band is the Jarboe years). Otherwise there is nothing that will surprise or indeed disappoint longtime Swans watchers, nor anything that might attract the curious. Fans, you know you’re in good hands with this one — it’s as brilliant and exhausting as ever; newbies, probably best to start elsewhere.
What does it all *mean*?
Lengthwise, it’s 2 mins shorter than To Be Kind, 1 min shorter than The Seer, 1 hr 14 mins longer than My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, 23 mins shorter than Soundtracks For The Blind, 16 mins longer than The Great Annihilator, 1 hr 5 mins longer than Love Of Life, 12 mins longer than White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, 1 hr 14 mins longer than The Burning World, 43 mins longer than Children Of God, and lot longer than the painful ones that came before Children Of God.
Goes well with…
DISCO!
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
DISCO!
Nice review, Poppy. Where should a slightly daunted newbie start?
Splendid – this is now almost at the top of my “pile”.
DVD worth bothering with, by the way?
Thanks @wilson-wilson. There are basically three eras of Swans. Firstly, there’s everything up to when Jarboe joined around the ‘Children Of God’ album, which is is a bit too grinding and punishing for me, so I’d leave that if I were you.
Then you’ve got the Jarboe era, which is the ten years from about 1987. During this period they stayed monolithic, but traded ‘punishing’ for ‘epic’ and the result is a fireworks-display of sound, vast and intense but offset by Jarboe’s honey-coated vocals and thus never particularly ‘difficult’, even when Gira is at his most lyrically jaded (and he can be very, very jaded). They sounded like no-one else before or since during this period – it’s some of the most distinctive, moving and emotionally satisfying music I own.
Everything during this time is wonderful, but I would point you towards a recent three-CD reissue of ‘White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity’ and ‘Love Of Life’, which is their two best albums, plus on the bonus CD you get Jarboe’s cover of ‘Black-Eyed Dog’ by Nick Drake, which is great. I was on a train when I first heard ‘Power And Sacrifice’ from the ‘White Light…’ album, and I felt like I was levitating.
After that, of course, you have the third era: reunion Swans from 2010. This is a different proposition altogether. They’re still monolithic, they still specialise at shooting off in incredible new directions, and Gira’s vocals ensure that they remain a unique proposition. But without Jarboe they’re just a little less idiosyncratic and interesting. Whereas before they were simply Swans, a solitary, matchless presence, you can now join the dots between them and, say, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna and Isis. Don’t get me wrong, don’t go misunderstanding me — they still rule the school, and each of the four albums from this period (‘My Father…’. ‘The Seer’, ‘To Be Kind’ and ‘The Glowing Man’) are superb, but I would still place each of these below anything from the Jarboe period. Just.
Sorry, I’ve wibbled on. Simple answer: the three-CD reissue of ‘Love Of Life’ and ‘White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity’
Hey @biggles I opted for the version without the live DVD. I think you’ll love the album.
Take a listen to this. It’s ‘Love Will Save You’ from ‘White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity’. It sends me, this does.
Well I really like that! Never ever investigated Swans before but will do now. A bit 4ad, Dead Can Dance, Goth?
Thanks Pop.
Yeah, me too. Cheers @poppy-succeeds and @biggles will definitely be investigating.
@poppy-succeeds
It is very good indeed. Part(s) of it sounded very similar to To Be Kind (no bad thing), which I now discover is not surprising given that it re-works some elements from there…
@wilson-wilson
Difficult to argue with Poppy’s summation above, but if you are a “complete newbie”, then may I suggest additionally the 2cd Various Failures – a compilation of tracks from 1988-1992
The more I listen, the more I like it.
Poppy,
Following a bit of a Swans binge earlier, my i-tunes “bounced” to Jim Thirwell and his various incarnations.
I was transported back to when I was younger (so much younger than today), but/and I still found it exhilarating. Obviously, Wiseblood then came up, as did other Young God artists and Ministry, then it hit some Cabaret Voltaire…
…I am a little scared:
– is (are?) itunes in my head, stalking me, or simply intuitive?
– am I too old to get excited by this?
Time for some Angels of Light and Jarboe, methinks.
By the way wilson-wilson, some or all of the above may be further listening suggestions!
Oh, good work! You know I love me a bit of JGT.
Did you ever hear the album Jarboe did with Neurosis? Intense, as you can imagine.
Ah, that is a very good shout…
…But – if I remember correctly – that collaboration was 10 years ago or so, and whilst I enjoyed that, it made me investigate Neurosis in their own right, which was simply horrid.
And, btw, my “very clever(?) my i-tunes has now taken me to The Young Gods, which is also now making me smile!
There we differ. I love Neurosis. ‘Through Silver In Blood’ is one of my go-to albums.
Cheers @biggles I have some Ministry and Cabaret Voltaire but will look into the others!
Just been playing this for the first time this morning, after having been listening to “When Will I Return?” for a while as they slipped it out as a taster a while ago.
Wow, that’s an immense album.