''Leaving Meaning'' (stylized as ''leaving meaning.'') is the fifteenth studio album by American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

band

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

. It was released October 25, 2019 on Young God and

Mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

. A double album, ''Leaving Meanings songs have been mixed separately for vinyl and CD releases, with the CD version of the album containing the original (and extended) mixes of the songs, as well as an additional track, "Some New Things". As with all Swans' releases of the

2010s File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed; Crimea is ...

, ''Leaving Meaning'' was financed by a fundraiser album – in this case, ''

What Is This? What Is This (known prior to 1980 as Anthym) was an American rock band that originated in Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California. Formed by guitarist Hillel Slovak, drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Alain Johannes, and bassist Todd Strassm ...

'' in March 2019.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Leaving Meaning'' received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, ''Leaving Meaning'' received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 75, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Andrew Perry of ''

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'' gave the album a favorable review, comparing it partly to '' The Burning World'' and writing, "Whatever the sonic weather, Gira's spiritual austerity remains unimpaired."

Accolades

Track listing

CD & digital version

Vinyl version

Personnel

Adapted from the official Young God Records website: Swans *

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of ...

– vocals, electric and acoustic guitar * Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals * Larry Mullins – drums, Mellotron, percussion, vibes, vocals * Yoyo Röhm – bass guitar, double bass, keyboards, vocals Previous Swans * Thor Harris – percussion, trumpet, clarinet, gizmos, vibes and bells * Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar * Phil Puleo – hammered dulcimer ("Amnesia") *

Norman Westberg Norman Westberg is a guitarist from Detroit best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album '' Filth'' (1983) and appeared on every album through 199 ...

– electric guitar, vocals * Paul Wallfisch – piano Guests * Chris Abrahams – piano, organ ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning") * Tony Buck – drums, percussion ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning", "Some New Things") * Lloyd Swanton – double bass ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning") * Anna von Hausswolff – choral vocals * Maria von Hausswolff – choral vocals *

Ben Frost Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director. Life Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...

– electric guitar, vocals, synth *

Baby Dee Baby Dee (born 1953) is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio. Early career In the 1970s, Baby Dee began her musical career as a street performer, but soon decided to take work as an ...

– lead vocal ("The Nub") * Fay Christen – vocals ("The Nub") * Ida Albertje Michels – vocals ("The Nub") * Jennifer Gira – vocals * Jeremy Barnes – santur, hi-hat, fiddlesticks, accordion, engineering * Heather Trost – violin, viola, fiddlesticks, engineering * Dana Schechter – bass * Cassis Staudt – accordion,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

Other contributorshttps://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0397/1609/products/Various_Personnel_Swans_Leaving_Meaning_grande.jpg?v=1567525545 * Ingo Krauss * Peter Wright * Daniel Miller * Francesco Fabris * Howard Wuelfing * John Allen * Brandon Perry * Todd Cole * Paul A. Taylor * Jason LaFarge

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 albums Swans (band) albums Albums produced by Michael Gira Young God Records albums Mute Records albums