''New Mother'' is the debut studio album by American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

act

Angels of Light Angels of Light were an American folk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he ...

. It was released on April 5, 1999 via frontman Michael Gira's own record label

Young God Records Young God Records is an independent record label formed by Michael Gira in 1990 that specializes in experimental, avant-garde and often non genre-specific releases. The label was named after an EP released by Gira's band Swans called '' Young Go ...

, immediately after Michael Gira disbanded his previous 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 ...

. The album features contributions from various musicians, including violinist

Hahn Rowe Hahn Rowe is an American violinist, guitarist, composer, and engineer/producer, involved in a wide range of projects. He also performs using the stage name Somatic. Career Originally a violinist and guitarist with New York City dream-poppers H ...

, Rasputina band cellist

Julia Kent Julia Kent is a Canadian cellist and composer from Vancouver, Canada, and based in New York City, United States. She has performed as a member of Rasputina (band), Rasputina and with Antony and the Johnsons. Musical career Kent creates music us ...

, drummer

Thor Harris Thor Harris (born February 7, 1965) is an artist, sculptor, musician, painter, carpenter and handyman. He was the percussionist for Swans (2010–2016). He has performed with Shearwater (2001–2010), Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light, Lisa ...

, composer

Joe McGinty Joe McGinty is an American composer, keyboardist and arranger who was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. McGinty is most widely known for his five years as the keyboardist for The Psychedelic Furs (after a brief stint with Robert Hazard in Philade ...

and ex-Swans members

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scene ...

Phil Puleo Phil Puleo (born September 27, 1963) is an American composer, drummer, illustrator and visual artist from New York. He is known as a founding member of the band Cop Shoot Cop in the 1990s, and for his current involvement in the experimental rock ...

and Bill Bronson. The album contains versions of some songs that were performed live during

final tour, including "The Man With the Silver Tongue" and "Not Alone". The

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 ...

solo album ''Solo Recording at Home'' contains an outtake from the recordings session for this album, on the song "God's Servant".

Critical reception

Ned Raggett of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album a positive review, stating: "No less than 19 musicians participated in the creation of ''New Mother'', and the fact that Gira was able to synthesize their efforts and create such a powerful debut bodes well for his future efforts in this vein." He also wrote that the record "draws on a juxtaposition of lush '60s American and European pop orchestration." Jordan N. Mamone of

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

also praised the album, writing: "While many of the Swans' attempts at levity sounded forced and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, the Angels of Light shine naturally, with poise and stunning clarity." He subsequently included the album in his "Top Ten Picks" list.

Track listing

Personnel

;Angels of Light *

– vocals, composition, production, acoustic guitar, electric guitar ;Additional musicians *

– piano, bass guitar,

Farfisa organ Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, analog synthesizer, acoustic guitar, backingvocals * Christoph Hahn – lap steel, classical and electric guitar, Casio organ, backing vocals *

Larry Mullins Laurence A. "Moon" Mullins (June 13, 1908 – August 10, 1968) was an American college football player, coach and athletic director. He played fullback under Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame. He served as the head coach at St. Bened ...

– vibraphone, timpani, tabla, percussion, backing vocals *

– hand drums, percussion, glockenspiel, backing vocals, water bowls *

– percussion, melodica, organ, mouth harp *

– cello *Bill Bronson – bass guitar *

– upright piano *

Michele Amar ''Sulfur'' was an American rock ensemble formed by Michele Amar in New York City in 1991. It was originally an outlet for Amar's solo work until it expanded drastically with the inclusion of seven members and a number of additional side personnel. ...

– backing vocals *

– violin *Birgit Staudt – accordion * Thomas Dodd –

Irish harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring grea ...

Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, A ...

– organ, backing vocals, engineering, mixing *Chris Griffin – banjo, dobro, dulcimer, mandolin ;Other personnel *Hillary Johnson – assistant engineering, engineering *Michael Moore – engineering

Chart positions

References

External links

New Mother on Young God Records
{{Authority control 1999 debut albums Angels of Light albums Young God Records albums Albums produced by Michael Gira