However, rather than a bunch of tired musicians coming together to begrudgingly perform the hits, the return of Swans was more of a refocused conduit of the mind of Michael Gira to begin working on material that wouldn’t work under any other name.
This cumulated in 2012 when the new line-up released 'The Seer', a supposed summation of all that had come before, a tour de force of the entire past of the band, from 1982 till present, and one of the greatest reformation albums ever released. It was a hypnotic masterpiece that took the listener on a journey with an unsettling undercurrent of dread.
Then, after an equally exquisite follow-up album in 2014's 'To Be Kind', Gira announced last year that the current incarnation of Swans would be coming to an end with a final album and tour. "In trusting my instincts, I felt that with this group of six people, we'd reached the point where it was the most we could do together.
“I thought what we were doing for the last tour was really great. I just felt it couldn't go in a different direction after this with all of us. The only way I know how to deal with that is to just fuck shit up and start over.
"I'm not certain about what the direction after this will be. I have some vague sonic images gestating in my mind but I just felt it was necessary to close it. We all get along, there was no acrimony. We were starting to use tropes. Familiar ways of making sounds, perhaps getting too familiar."
With such anticipation following these two albums, which have introduced this incarnation of Swans to a whole new generation, I asked Michael how the final Swans album was coming along. “I thought it was done but I got home and listened to the mixes and at first I was elated and then the more I listened the more I sunk my head in despair.
“So I'm going back to Berlin and I'm gonna mix it again and hopefully it'll be great. I know the material's really good but I think it'll be a good final spew for this version of the band."
With St Vincent and Cold Specks having guested on the previous album I asked if there were any surprise guest spots on this next release. "We have no famous pop stars on this record. That was just sort of happenstance. My wife Jennifer [Church] is singing a song I wrote. She's a very good singer. The ubiquitous Bill Rieflin [Ministry, REM] is playing a tremendous amount of instruments. He's played on a lot of Swans records and with Angels Of Light, he's a very good friend."
Will these solo shows be the start of the next chapter in Michael's career? "This is an everyday thing. There was lots of free time, and no money coming in, so,” Michael says with a laugh, “I have to do this.
“It's like I say, it's what I do and so I'm happy to do it. It's forced me to sit down and write some new songs too, which is a good thing. As far as knowing what the next incarnation is going to be, I've pretty much retired Angels Of Light so anything I do henceforth I think will be under the moniker of Swans.”
Michael Gira Tour Dates
Sat 5 Mar - Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane)Tue 8 Mar - Melbourne Recital Hall
Wed 9 Mar - Carriageworks (Sydney)
