Swans: Birthing (3LP) [YOUNG GOD]

Why you'll love it

This 3LP set comes in a triple gatefold brown chipboard jacket with spot varnish, a double-sided insert and an 18 by 24 inch poster. Metacritic scored Birthing 87 out of 100 from eight critics.

This edition

• 3LP set
• Triple gatefold chipboard jacket
• Fold-out poster
• Double-sided insert

About the album

Michael Gira has said Birthing is the last Swans album built from those vast, all-consuming sound worlds; from here on, things get pared down. So if you've been meaning to experience the full-size version, this is the moment.

The songs grew across a year on the road before Gira and the band orchestrated and rearranged them in the studio, then mixed them at Candy Bomber in Berlin. "I Am a Tower" was the first single, a driving climb, while "The Healers" and the title track each fill a whole side and "Rope" and "Away" close the set. Phil Puleo's drums, dulcimer and flute help build the long, hypnotic swells.

It was also the last album Gira produced as main producer of Swans, and the tour wrapped in Berlin, later captured on the live album Newly Sentient Being. Three records, six sides, and a very good reason to cancel your afternoon.

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Tracklist

Listen

On Young God / Mute (cat# YG68), the 2025 album.