Swans, the legendary New York post punk outfit are to release the follow up to 2012’s The Seer on May 12th. The record will be released via front-man and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira’s own imprint Young God Records (US) and Mute Records (rest of the world).
The new album, entitled To Be Kind was produced by Gira and recorded at Sonic Ranch outside El Paso, Texas with John Congleton. The record features the Swans line-up of Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christoph Hahn, Phil Puleo, Thor Harris, Christopher Pravdica, as well as guest appearances by St Vincent’s Annie Clark, Cold Specks, Little Annie and Bill Rieflin. Gira commented on the new record’s musical direction, stating:
“A good portion of the material for this album was developed live during the Swans tours of 2012/13. Much of the music was otherwise conjured in the studio environment.”
To Be Kind was crowd funded, with Gira giving fans the chance to have their own song recorded in their honour, for those who contributed. The album will be available digitally, as well as on triple vinyl, double CD and Deluxe 2XCD/ live DVD editions. Gira also mentioned the possiblility of a USB stick edition, commenting:
“I am thinking of releasing it as a USB “stick” / flashdrive (with special packaging), so that this ultimate, high quality version can be listened to from beginning to end, without interruption (the album is a little over 2 hours long).”
