Swans : "the Beggar"

 

In a world where kids are listening to pop acts with 20 songwriters and even more producers, there is something refreshing about Michael Gira, as the sole producer and songwriter of Swans new album. It starts off with a darker tone that is also a welcome return for the band who had gotten kinda jammy on previous albums and more into the droning math of grooves than the sonic heaviness of the post-punk they rose to cult status from before their hiatus. The jammy drone is still present on "Paradise is Mine' which was the lead single from this album. Though balanced by a more sardonic mood. There are also hints of industrial lurking in the song. They gain momentum on "Los Angeles : City of Death". I am glad this  stark bleakness has returned to the lyrics, which bleeds over into the over all tone of the song. 

Gira is joined in the studio by the same band he has been touring with for the past decade.  Things go in a sing song lyrical direction and ambiance on "Michael is Done".  Gira's rich baritone ponders change on "Unforming". It is more like atmospheric folk, which is a more delicate side of the band's sound that the full volume assaults that are more typical of their live performances. The ten-minute title track finds the band converging back onto what I think of as their classic sound. It's a dark brooding groove that give Gira plenty of room to ponder more esoteric inner musings. There is also the tension that I think is a key quality of post-punk. 

"No More of This " reverts back to the more delicate introspective feel that is more the norm for this album. This time it holds a subtle country influence. There is still a very spacious post- rock feel . It is evident that the writing process was more centered on Michael and an acoustic guitar. This is resulting in a mellower overall feel to this album.  "Ebbing" finds the strum of guitar holding the core of the song. This kind of folk gets taking on a psychedelic drone is that hits you with the kind of powerful dynamics that the band is known for.  While these are the moments I want more of from them, I try not to take the fact that I am getting them for granted. "What Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want".  Lyrics the most relevant song  might be the biting commentary of this one, that sums up American society well. 

Then we move onto the second disc. "The Beggar Lover" is back on their brand of weird with a wall of ambient noise swelling up to break down into a female spoken word section. A great deal of the noises here remind me of a DMT trip. It does turn into an actual song 18 minutes in that is pretty cool with a gloomy post-punk feel, but the problem is this is a 43 minute song, there is no reason to have a song that is long as an entire album. There is too much fat that could have been trimmed and they could have gotten two really cool songs out this. After this is the Memorious" which has more swing to it's drone than what you normally expect from these guys. You can tell there is a Doors influence based on the poetic turn of the vocals. There is almost a two toke minimum to get the full grasp of what they are doing here. I am glad they have moved back to darker shades of weird. I will give this a 9.5, mainly due to the 43 minute song that should not be.