Swans Announce New Album The Glowing Man, Tease Title Track: Listen
Swans have announced their new album The Glowing Man. The LP arrives June 17 via Young God/Mute. Preview the title track below. The band’s first studio album since 2014′s To Be Kind was produced by Michael Gira and sees them once again working with the engineer of that album, John Congleton. In September, Swans released The Gate, a limited edition live album. The Glowing Man is being billed as “the last album release of Swans’ current incarnation.” Find the album art and tracklisting below, as well as a long statement from Michael Gira and tour dates.
Gira was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when singer-songwriter and former Young God signee Larkin Grimm accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2008.
The Glowing Man:
01 Cloud of Forgetting
02 Cloud of Unknowing
03 The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black
04 People Like Us
05 Frankie M.
06 When Will I Return?
07 The Glowing Man
08 Finally, Peace.
Gira’s statement:
In 2009 when I made the decision to restart my musical group, Swans, I had no idea where it would lead. I knew that if I took the road of mining the past or revisiting the catalog, that it would be fruitless and stultifying. After much thought about how to make this an adventure that would instead led the music forward into unexpected terrain, I chose the five people with whom to work that I believed would most ably provide a sense of surprise, and even uncertainty, while simultaneously embodying the strength and confidence to ride the river of intention that flows from the heart of the sound wherever it would lead us – and what’s the intention? LOVE!
And so finally this LOVE has now led us, with the release of the new and final recording from this configuration of Swans, The Glowing Man, through four albums (three of which contain more complexity, nuance and scope than I would have ever dreamed possible), several live releases, various fundraiser projects, countless and seemingly endless tours and rehearsals, and a generally exhausting regimen that has left us stunned but still invigorated and thrilled to see this thing through to its conclusion. I hereby thank my brothers and collaborators for their commitment to whatever truth lies at the center of the sound. I’m decidedly not a Deist, but on a few occasions – particularly in live performance – it’s been my privilege, through our collective efforts, to just barely grasp something of the infinite in the sound and experience generated by a force that is definitely greater than all of us combined. When talking with audience members after the shows or through later correspondence, it’s also been a true privilege to discover they’ve experienced something like this too. Whatever the force is that has led us through this extended excursion, it’s been worthwhile for many of us, and I’m grateful for what has been the most consistently challenging and fulfilling period of my musical life.
Going forward, post the touring associated with The Glowing Man, I’ll continue to make music under the name Swans, with a revolving cast of collaborators. I have little idea what shape the sound will take, which is a good thing. Touring will definitely be less extensive, I’m certain of that! Whatever the future holds, I’ll miss this particular locus of human and musical potential immensely: Norman Westberg, Kristof Hahn, Phil Puleo, Christopher Pravdica, Thor Harris, and myself mixed in there somewhere, too.
I wrote the song “When Will I Return?” specifically for Jennifer Gira to sing. It’s a tribute to her strength, courage, and resilience in the face of a deeply scarring experience she once endured, and that she continues to overcome daily.
The song “The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black” uses some words I wrote in 1982 or so that Sonic Youth used for their song “The World Looks Red,” back in the day. The music and melody used here in the current version are completely different. While working up material for this new album, I had a basic acoustic guitar version of the song and was stumped for words. For reasons unknown to me, the lyric I’d so long ago left in my typewriter in plain view at my living and rehearsal space (the latter of which Sonic Youth shared at the time) and which Thurston plucked for use with my happy permission, popped into my head and I thought “Why not?” The person that wrote those words well over three decades ago bears little resemblance to who I am now, but I believe it remains a useful text, so “Why not?”. Maybe, in a way, it closes the circle.
The song “The Glowing Man” contains a section of the song “Bring The Sun” from our previous album, To Be Kind. The section is, of course, newly performed and orchestrated to work within its current setting. ‘The Glowing Man’ itself grew organically forward and out of improvisations that took place live during the performance of “Bring The Sun,” so it seemed essential to include that relevant section here. Since over the long and tortured course of the current song’s genesis, it had always been such an integral cornerstone I believe we’d have been paralyzed and unable to perform the entire piece at all without it.
“Cloud of Forgetting” and “Cloud of Unknowing” are prayers. “Frankie M” is another tribute and a best wish for a wounded soul. “The Glowing Man” contains my favorite Zen Koan. “People Like Us” and “Finally, Peace” are farewell songs.
Swans:
04-05 Warsaw, Poland – Pardon, To Tu *
04-05 Warsaw, Poland – Pardon, To Tu *
04-07 Berlin, Germany – Volksbuehne *
04-08 Copenhagen, Denmark – Jazzhouse *^#
04-09 Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller *
04-10 Bergen, Norway – TBA *
04-11 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso *
04-13 Brussels, Belgium – TBA *
04-15 Paris, France – Point Ephémère *^
07-06 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
07-07 Boston, MA – Royale Nightclub
07-08 Providence, RI – Fete
07-09 Québec City, Québec – Le Cercle
07-10 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth Music Hall
07-12 Detroit, MI – St Andrews Hall
07-13 Milwaukee, WI – Shark Hall
07-14 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe
07-15-16 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
07-18 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
07-19 Cincinnati, OH – Woodward Theater
07-21 Louisville, KY – Headliner’s Music Hall
07-22 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
07-23 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
07-24 Nashville, TN – Exit / In
07-26 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
07-27 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
07-28 Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
07-29 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
07-30 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
09-01 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater
09-02 Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theater
09-03 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Grand Ballroom
09-04 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
09-06 Vancouver, British Columbia – TBA
09-07 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
09-09 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
09-10 Denver, CO – Gothic Theater
10-29 Vevey, Switzerland – Rocking Chair !
* Michael Gira solo
^ with Christopher Hahn
# with Exquisite Russian Brides
! with Anna von Hausswolff
Watch “The Seer,” a Pitchfork.tv documentary on Swans.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the band had shared the title track in full. It is actually an excerpt. A previous version of this story also indicated that John Congleton produced this album and its predecessor. He engineered them.
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