SWANS - NEWLY SENTIENT BEING (4LP+DVD)

"The "Newly Sentient Being" LP by Swans is being released on Mute and documents the farewell concert of the so-called "Big Sound" lineup in Berlin; the recordings are from November 28, 2025 and are being issued as a 4LP + DVD set, a double CD + DVD set, and in digital form. The edition contains the complete concert, which runs for more than two hours and features material that has not previously been released. The recording captures Michael Gira and the musicians from the 2010-2025 lineup: Kristof Hahn, Dana Schechter, Larry Mullins, Phil Puleo, Christopher Pravdica, and Norman Westberg. The show was structured into five expansive sections; the track list includes "The End of Forgetting," "The Merge," "Paradise Is Mine," "Newly Sentient Being," and "The End of Regretting." An accompanying concert film by Marco Porsia and Peter Harton further documents the performance. Musically, the release stays true to the band's defining elements: monumental soundscapes, thundering rhythms, and an almost ritualistic sense of dynamics that erupts in long, evolving compositions. Michael Gira's way of coupling raw intensity with meditative passages shapes the work just as much as the group's dense, almost orchestral instrumentation. With "Newly Sentient Being," Swans present a live document of that era that traces the characteristic traits of their experimental rock, post-industrial approach, and the band's ongoing historical continuity. "