But I'm trying to excise the capacity for evil I have in myself and move on. I'm more interested in trying to make something that has a personal resonance, which hopefully bleeds through the record. New Mother achieves this goal with unexpected fragility. Where Swans once pummeled, Angels of Light pause. Where Gira once roared, now he croons.
Melody substitutes for menace.
Sparse arrangements of acoustic guitar, vibraphone, piano and minimal drums replace Swans' heavy bass and keyboards. Folk and the blues enter without shame, and names like Cave, Cohen, Cash and Eitzel rattle around the brain as potential comparisons. The music's stark quietude, however, allows Gira to develop his tales in a fuller, more narrative fashion. Confronted with this last song, longtime Swans fans may immediately think of Jarboe, who lent that band a fervid, soul-burning female voice and became Gira's partner in music and life. As Swans dissolved, so did the pair's relationship.