The latest project from the legendary experimental rock project Swans, Birthing, is almost 2 hours of material, stretched over seven tracks of varying lengths between 7 and 23 minutes. Gira and longtime collaborators Phil Puleo, Kristof Hahn, and Dana Schechter, Christopher Pravdica, Larry Mullins, and Norman Westberg (much the same lineup as on The Beggar and Leaving Meaning) indulge in the now somewhat predictable mixture of tribal dance rhythms, droning psychedelic ambiance and Gregorian howling. The spectre of the dreamier and stripped back presentation of the Beggar casts over the 7 tracks though greater rhythmic propulsion and linear structures marks a clear return to the format of the more popular records in the band’s 21st century output. Each piece alternates between dreamy, repetitive, droning and emphatic, propulsive crescendos.
The opener The Healers highlights the new agenda with 8 minutes of hymn-like chanting over guitar feedback before a hypnotic shuffle enters and grows in intensity before eventually breaking into ‘no-wave’ feedback mayhem and exiting via a hellish psalm against free-rhythm drumming. The epic I Am A Tower eventually breaks into a rousing finale with surprising uplifting mantra and an oscillating guitar loop – perhaps one of the most optimistic passages of music across Gira’s long career. The lysergic raga-like intro to the title track lasts for 10 minutes before the drums come in with crushing effect. The second half shifts town to guitar tremolos and piano, which becomes progressively more disjointed, before yet another sudden diversion to an industrial cadence on the outro. The shifts in emphasis within each track are not always coherent, though it is the combination of disparate ideas that keeps things interesting.
The second half starts with the short Red Yellow, a mere snippet between these gargantuan polystylistic epics but still packs a hypnotic dance rhythm, microtonal guitar and ‘glossolalian’ shouts, particularly reminiscent of the post-rock suites that Swans became notorious for in the 2010s. Gira can still despite his age, harness hellish fury atop the ritualistic Guardian Spirit. And the band can still muster up the rhythmic purge of The Merge that fades into electronics and eventually acoustic guitar – the first of the 20+ minute monoliths where each constituent part feels complimentary. Closer, (Rope) Away resides on a liturgical ‘Branca’-esque swarm of guitars and pounding kick-drums before concluding on a tender note. The final two tracks are both the most consistently engaging and innovative.
Overall, this album, shrouded in symbolism of death and rebirth marks a slight stylistic stagnation for Gira rather than a moment of reinvention. Gira has become reliant on the cliches that he created through the years. Nonetheless, Gira and his backing group can still deliver a musical experience that few can replicate. The band does a consummate job at exhausting the final spasms of inspiration of the ritualistic post-rock era of the band, particularly on the final two tracks. One hopes that this album marks more a death than a birth and that Gira can find a new direction to justify another 2 hours of material.
Label: Young God Records / Mute Records
Released: May 30, 2025
Losing My Edge Rating: 7/10
Best Tracks: The Merge, (Rope) Away