Swans - What is This? (2019)

The no-wave holdouts tease new music with cryptic video, acoustic demos, and unique crowdfunding campaign. As has been the case for the past four decades, Michael Gira is doing something unconventional. Following up their trilogy of punishing (two hours long, each of ’em), entrancing, and very weird records over the course of just four years, Swans appears to be returning, albeit in a new iteration. Young God Records has shared details on their site of the campaign to fund Gira’s new album, spearheaded by a record of acoustic tracks titled What Is This?, the foundation of what will later become the band’s proper new record. Gira also notes that the band’s new lineup will include past members of the band and other Gira project Angels of Light (including Bill Rieflin, currently a member of King Crimson), as well as Swedish songwriter, organist, and honorary member of the Gira universe Anna von Hausswolff. Gira notes that the new record “won’t be expressed in a musical style similar to the chapter of Swans that recently concluded,” concluding with a Lynchian quip to “Follow the uncertainty, make that the thing.”

In addition to the demo LP, Gira is offering up a series of eight different packages ranging from $40 to $500 dollars, including an assortment of unique hand-drawn doodles, screenprints, guest list spots, executive producer credits, a “unique art object” called a “Gravity Machine,” and more, many options packaged in a hand-crafted, limited edition oak box set. So there you go.