LUNACY SWANS PROFESSIONAL

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 32 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'. Upon its release, The Seer was widely praised by music critics.

LUNACY SWANS PROFESSIONAL

Critical reception Professional ratings Aggregate scores

The artwork from the album was based on a tempera wolf painting by Simon Henwood and featured Gira's teeth on the wolf. Chris pointed me to a few of Karen's solo works where she sings in this really gentle, compassionate, soulful way.' Former Swans member Jarboe also made an appearance on the album once Gira met her after an Atlanta tour as he needed 'some female vocals doing these kind of drone chords.' The name of the album and title track came from Swans performing the title track multiple times instrumentally until Gira soon sang, 'I see it all, I see it all,' which he thought fit the music. While Gira sings on the majority of the songs, he enlisted Karen O to assist with singing 'Song for a Warrior' because Gira believed that 'Since the song is like a country lullaby, I thought it would be appropriate for a female. After a year of touring, they recorded in New York while Gira spent the next five months doing overdubs and fleshing out songs written on his acoustic guitar.

The band started recording in Berlin after a hiatus during touring as Gira wanted to get it done while they were a live band. While their previous effort was seen as a continuation of Gira's folk solo project Angels of Light mixed with Swans' original elements, Gira stated that The Seer was more focused as a Swans effort due to touring. B Blues,' 'The Seer,' 'The Apostate,' and 'Avatar' were developed during tours and rehearsals while the rest of the songs were created in the studio. He described the album as taking '30 years to make' and is 'the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I've ever made.' Describing the songwriting process, Gira said, 'The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they'll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while.' The songs '93 Ave. The album was funded with the sales of the live double album We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head as frontman Michael Gira stated that the rise of internet piracy caused a need to fund records in this fashion. The Seer is considered the first part of a three-album 'trilogy', the other albums being To Be Kind, which followed, and The Glowing Man, which followed To Be Kind. The album garnered critical acclaim from mainstream publications and appeared in publications' best of the year album lists. The album is noteworthy due to its extended song lengths, particularly its over thirty minute title track, as well as its frequent experimentation with drone and noise elements. The album features a variety of instrumentation and guest musicians, including the post-punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs vocalist Karen O and former Swans member Jarboe. While the previous studio album My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky was seen as a cross between Gira's solo project Angels of Light and late Swans, The Seer strayed away from Angels of Light's more accessible songs and lyricism, focusing more around sonic landscapes. Producer and frontman Michael Gira funded the recording of the album with the sales of We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head. The Seer is the twelfth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans and was released on Augby Gira's own record label Young God Records. We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head

Lunacy swans