Swans 20 min. "I Am a Tower" for Birthing released

Swan swill be releasing the album Birthing, set for official release on May 30th, 2025, and ready to pre-order now. See https://younggodrecords.com/products/birthing-preorder

Michael Gira/Swans dropped the almost 20 minute track "I a Tower" a couple of days ago.



From the Young God Records site:

younggodrecords wrote: SWANS annouce their seventeenth studio album, Birthing, due for release on May 30, 2025. Birthing will be released on triple vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve, double CD (in a brown chipboard digi-pack), and digitally. Initial pressings of the 3LP and 2CD editions will come with a bonus DVD featuring ‘Swans Live 2024 (Rope) The Beggar’, a live concert film directed by Marco Porsia from the last Swans US tour, plus Christopher Nicholson’s documentary from Michael Gira’s solo tour in 2022 entitled ‘I Wonder If I’m Singing What You’re Thinking Me To Sing’. “The material contained in this album was largely developed over the course a yearlong Swans tour, during 2023 – 2024 (‘The Healers’, ‘I Am a Tower’, ‘Birthing’, ‘Guardian Spirit’, ‘Rope’, and ‘Away’), then recorded and further orchestrated and rearranged in the studio. Two pieces were created and performed in the studio (‘Red Yellow’, ‘The Merge’). In all cases the material began with me sitting in my office with an acoustic guitar, singing and dreaming about what would become of these skeletal songs. I’m blessed to have such a stellar group of musicians to work with live (listed below), and through improvisation, endless revisions and an intensity of focus in performance (not to mention endurance), over the course of time the music morphed into what you generally hear on this collection. This album, coupled with the recent live release, Live Rope, constitutes my final foray (as producer / impresario) into the all-consuming sound worlds that have been my obsession for years. We’ll do a final tour in this mode towards the end of 2025, then that’s it. After that, Swans will continue, so long as I’m able, but in a significantly pared down form. Hints of that direction can be found in a few moments on the current album. In the meantime, my hope is that the music provides a positive and fertile atmosphere in which to dream.” – Michael Gira / Swans SWANS BIRTHING ALBUM CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Gira – acoustic guitar, voice, producer; Phil Puleo – drums, hammer dulcimer, flute, melodica, percussion; Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, electric and acoustic guitars, loops, backing vocals; Dana Schechter – lap steel guitar, bass guitar, loops; Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar, Taishogoto, loops, sounds, keyboards; Larry Mullins – Mellotron, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, drums, vibraphone, percussion, backing vocals; Norman Westberg – electric guitar, loops... Guest Musicians: Jennifer Gira – backing vocals, cameo vocals; Laura Carbone and Lucy Kruger – backing vocals; Andreas Dormann – soprano saxophone; Timothy Wyskida – drums on The Merge; Little Mikey – cameo vocals. Birthing was produced by Michael Gira. Recorded at Soundfabrik Berlin, recording engineer Ingo Krauss, assisted by Kiron Gaudi, and mixed at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin by Ingo Krauss. Mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose, Berlin. Birthing 2CD+Bonus DVD tracklisting: CD1: - The Healers - I Am a Tower - Birthing CD2: - Red Yellow - Guardian Spirit - The Merge - Rope: Instrumental - Away BONUS DVD included with initial pressing: -M. Gira/I Wonder if I’m Singing What You’re Thinking Me to Sing (Live Solo 2022) - wans/(Rope) The Beggar (Live 2024) Birthing 3LP+ Bonus DVD tracklisting: Side A: The Healers Side B: I Am a Tower Side C: Birthing Side D: Red Yellow, Guardian Spirit Side E: The Merge Side F: Rope: Instrumental, Away BONUS DVD included with initial pressing: -M. Gira/I Wonder if I’m Singing What You’re Thinking Me to Sing (Live Solo 2022) and Swans/(Rope) The Beggar (Live 2024)

Swans bandcamp: https://swans.bandcamp.com/

Edited by Logan - February 27 2025 at 04:03

I like it on first listening and that means I will listen to the whole album when it comes out. Turning out to be potentially a very interesting year what with the likes of IQ and Steven Wilson putting out new albums. I already have 20 albums I like that I've heard this year alone.

^ Makes sense.

richardh wrote: I like it on first listening and that means I will listen to the whole album when it comes out. Turning out to be potentially a very interesting year what with the likes of IQ and Steven Wilson putting out new albums. I already have 20 albums I like that I've heard this year alone.

The Swans has been my most anticipated album, but then Swans has been one of my favourite bands for some years for its 1987 until now period. I only have listened to three albums in full for this year yet, and only once in full to each album.

1. Squid - Cowards
2. Richard Dawson - End of the Middle
3. Heartworms (Jojo Orme) - Glutton for Punishment [AP Non-Prog]

Not Prog, but I am looking forward to Jenny Hval's Iris Silver Mist, set to be released on May 2nd. She's an art pop singer/songwriter. She released new single few days ago that I enjoyed for her new album. Not the best place to share it, but here is "To Be a Rose" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5918QP394