Swans announce new album ‘The Beggar’
American indie stalwarts Swans have shared details of their new album, The Beggar, which is their 16th full-length release.
The record has been produced by the band’s chief creative force Michael Gira, who also wrote all of the tracks featured on The Beggar. Jennifer Gira, Lucy Kruger, and Laura Carbone all contribute backing vocals to the album, which also features members of Gira’s side project, Angels of Light.
In a statement, Gira said: “After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album leaving meaning, and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last.”
He continues: “When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in The Wizard of Oz when the film changes from Black and White to Color. Now I’m feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album.”
The announcement coincides with the release of Swans’ new single, ‘Paradise Is Mine’. The Beggar is the band’s first album since 2019’s Leaving Meaning and will be released on June 23rd through Young God Records.
Listen to ‘Paradise Is Mine’ below.
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