Swans
Leaving Meaning

THE REVIEW

It might be the dead of night or the dawn when “Hums” welcomes us into its embrace. The arms of Gira, the shaman, the young old shaman, who with “Annaline”, “Amnesia”, “Cathedrals of Heaven” and the title track opens our eyes to the new path of his magnificent Swans, spreading their wings over splendid and hypnotic folk-psychedelic mantras. The atmosphere of the ritual, of tribal dances in the night, and of spiritual elevation is always there, present, constant throughout this new double album, like Jim Morrison suddenly returned, after 50 years, to play “The End” ad libitum.

Compared to the three previous monoliths, this “Leaving Meaning” is certainly more stripped-down: an approach that has benefited the overall balance of the album, which is indeed more accessible (relatively speaking, we are still talking about the Swans) than the trilogy of mastodons that preceded it. “Sunfucker” could be the perfect soundtrack for those contemplating the birth of a new day and letting themselves be hypnotized by its mystery, intoning yet another pagan hymn to the All. “The Nub” is the siren's song, the irresistible call of restless spirits, their sweet lament leaving no way of escape. “Some New Things” and “My Phantom Limb” are the obsession repeated to the point of exhaustion.

And then there are tracks like “It’s Coming It’s Real” and “What is This?” that could reconcile anyone, even the most pessimistic, with this drifting world: listening to the young old shaman singing verses like “There is a star in my throat / In a voice, there is hope […] I am water, I will rise”, might make one want to look away from the abyss and start observing the sky.