Remember when MJ told us that “this is it“? We all know that didn’t age well. Now the other Michael tells us the same thing on The Beggar.  This is it for Michael Gira! Well, if it is, let’s hope this will age better.

Arguably, 2019’s Leaving Meaning never got any proper attention as it was released just before COVID-19 swept the globe. Swans couldn’t prolong the short lived written media hype with a tour as venues’ doors were obliged to stay closed. Just like many others, Swans’ mastermind Michael Gira battled his demons during the various lockdowns. From his personal bottomless pit of isolation he wrote new material which he exclusively brought out last year on the demo Is There Really a Mind? to finance the next album. With some money to burn Gira called together his old crew in Berlin and sharpened the demo and recorded a full body of work carrying the title: The Beggar. 

This time Gira and other core Swans members didn’t waste any time to get on the road with their new work and embarked on a European spring tour before The Beggar’s late June release date. We attended the Utrecht gig and were very impressed by the band’s performance that was louder than expected. The spheric approach of Leaving Meaning, the relatively quiet new lead singles, the seated setting in TivoliVredenburg’s chamber music stage, Hertz, and Gira simply sitting on a stool with only an acoustic guitar, was mistaken by quite a few as a sort of a try out. If it was, this was the loudest try out ever. 

In two and a half hours the band was whipped down by Gira to play at their fiercest. After about 45 minutes during the start of Ebbing the Hertz crew hurried around the venue handing out free earplugs which alas only reached those who were sitting close to the aisles. It was too little and too late for us. Our ears started beeping at The Memorious and an hour later nearly started bleeding at the end No More of This. What is in a title, right? Hereafter Michael wasn’t done with us as he and the band took the time to deliver the final blows by delivering an intense medley made of Leaving Meaning’s title track, Cloud of Unknowing and Birthing. The whole experience was exhausting but transcendental at the same time and reminded us of the reason why Gira once chose this monniker. Back in the day he stated: “Swans are majestic, beautiful looking creatures. With really ugly temperaments”. 

Anyway, that night we heard four songs of The Beggar live and can’t imagine the same experience can be captured on record. Live Swans or recorded Swans are simply different animals. Enough said, it’s time to take a deep dive into their 16th album and really hear what the full work is about. 

With this latest Swans’ offering Michael Gira seems to be closing the thick book that has immortalised his artistic journey since the early eighties. Although the signals of a farewell are out in the open on Michael is Done and No More of This it’s too soon to call The Beggar his swan song. Instead it is best to understand this album as one of the final chapters of Michael Gira’s 40 year long relentless journey in music. 

From the very first notes of the hauntingly droney opener, The Parasite, it becomes apparent that The Beggar is a deeply introspective and thematically rich album. Gira’s contemplations on the fundamental questions of existence mirror the overarching classic Swans themes despair, greed and despair. On Why Can’t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? For example he gets deeply personal and exposes his struggles with recurring alcoholism. Lyrically the album is very much aligned with Gira’s book, The Knot, that offers every word to every song he’s written and an ongoing journal full of eerie fictional stories. 

Musically there are more than a few recognizable moments. For example, the accessibility of The Great Annihilator (1995) echoes through on Los Angeles: City Of Death and on Ebbing the transcendental composition could very well be an encore of Love Of Life (1992). The Memorious, easily fits somewhere in the heavy noise-rock epics from last decade as it unleashes a manic frenzy of contemporary free jazz and post-punk madness. Furthermore, Gira’s folk-oriented project, Angels Of Light, also gets attention on Unforming. Gira shows off his mastery to thrive in any guitar-centred context and doesn’t call in significant help like he did on Leaving Meaning where new impulses mainly came from The Necks, Baby Dee and the Hausswolff sisters. This time experienced rhythm section made of core Swans members Larry Mullins, Dana Schechter, Christopher Pravdica, Phil Puleo and Kristof Hahn bring him all he needs to spread his mantras.   

Swans really surpass themselves during the monumental 44-minute opus titled The Beggar Lover (Three). On a relentless sonic journey the punishing heights of the 2010s The Seer and To Be Kind are again explored only to plunge into the swirling depths of The Glowing Man. Through the intermingling of drone sounds, eerie Americana, and field recordings, a disorienting sonic labyrinth shapes up from which escape is impossible. Whilst the experience is top-notch The Beggar Lover (Three) also differs greatly from other Swans songs from the past decade. The usual ‘slow burn to payoff to cool-down’ now is restructured to a sole premature peak leaving the remaining half-hour to dissolve into various sinister fragmented textures. With the other songs in mind Swans thus interchanges the tangible with the untangleable. In the end this is a risky move because the sheer musical impact of The Beggar hovers about in that continuum and doesn’t get the feet on the ground. 

Nevertheless, this latest Swans remains an essential listen for those who have a warm heart for their discography. Understandably there are those who say The Glowing Man should have been the end but on the other hand Leaving Meaning and The Beggar still offer more than enough thought-provoking and innovative music and therefore deserve a place in Swans chronology. Just think of it as a part of an epilogue and you’ll be all set to take this one into the fullest. The daunting force in the realm of avant-rock is still among us so if they make a move, whatever the size, you best pay attention.

Now for our own epilogue: just like on previous releases the vinyl and CD release differ from each other. Since people are going wild about vinyl records nowadays Michael Gira’s Young God label meets the demand. The Beggars 2LP set has a different track sequence than the 2CD version and doesn’t include The Beggar Lover (Three). Instead you’ll get a download link for the 44-minute opus. So if they want to physically own the full work, just buy the CD’s which are more affordable and still are, and will always be Michael’s preferred format. Also you can buy both like we did. Yikes! Anyway, buyer beware.

Label: Young God Records, 2023

Buy it here: https://younggodrecords.com/products/the-beggar

Tracklist:

1. The Parasite (8:27)
2. Paradise Is Mine (9:23)
3. Los Angeles: City of Death (3:29)
4. Michael Is Done (6:08)
5. Unforming (5:55)
6. The Beggar (10:15)
7. No More of This (6:55)
8. Ebbing (11:04)
9. Why Can’t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? (7:38)
10. The Beggar Lover (Three) (43:51)
11. The Memorious (8:38)

Line-up:

• Michael Gira – vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production
• Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, various guitars, vocals
• Larry Mullins – drums, orchestral percussion, mellotron, vibes, keyboards, backing vocals
• Dana Schechter – bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano
• Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals
• Phil Puleo – drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments
• Ben Frost – guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations
• Jennifer Gira – backing vocals
• Lucy Kruger – backing vocals
• Laura Carbone – backing vocals

Review by Wander Meulemans // 280623