Birthing is the seventeenth studio album by the American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on May 30, 2025, through Mute and Young God Records. Frontman Michael Gira stated that the album was the last to focus on "all-consuming sound worlds", with future albums taking on a "significantly pared down form".[1] The first single from Birthing, "I Am a Tower", was released on February 25, 2025.
Michael Gira, the frontman for Swans, stated that the material within Birthing was developed and recorded across a yearlong tour.[2] The songs were then further orchestrated and rearranged in the studio.[3] Gira also stated that it would be the last "big sound" Swans album, with future releases from the band being "significantly pared down" and that it would mark his last album as the main producer of Swans.[4] One last tour with the band's old sound is planned to take place near the end of 2025.[5]
Release
The first single from Birthing, "I Am a Tower" was released on February 25, 2025.[6] Commenting for Beats Per Minute's "BPM Curates: February 2025", John Amen wrote, "the track is a study in opposites and functions as a sonic diptych ... [Gira's] voice and the driving music conjuring a sublime blend of humility and braggadocio, embodiment and transcendence, megalomania and self-erasure".[7]Birthing was released on May 30, 2025, on 2xCD and 3xLP through Mute and Young God Records.[1] Initial pressings of the album came with a concert film of the band, (Rope) The Beggar, as well as a documentary focused on Gira's 2022 solo tour, I Wonder If I'm Singing What You're Thinking Me To Sing.[1]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Birthing received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 from 8 critic scores.[9]
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