"Swans are not dead!" So went the headlines across certain dark alleyways of the blogosphere and on the Swans Myspace page and on the Young God web site (the record label ran by one Michael Gira of Swans). People were all a twitter with mixed emotions ranging from near euphoric excitement to horrified gasps of disbelief as the news that Mr. Gira was reconvening the seminal noise / no wave group Swans was confirmed. In order to raise funds for the forthcoming Swans full-length, Michael Gira released this CD and DVD package, I am Not Insane (with handmade artwork on each of the 1,000 copies made by himself) that contains demos of potential songs that may be considered for the Swans album.
The CD portion of I am Not Insane contains eleven tracks, nine of which are new and possibly will be for the upcoming Swans album (the other two are live renditions of Angels of Light tracks); the recording is simple and stark sounding, mostly just Gira and his acoustic guitar. The songs here may be stripped down, but they are heavy as Gira's voice seemingly provides the compositions with depth all on its own. Songs such as "Jim," "Little Mouth," "My Lazy Clown," and "Reeling The Liars In" are hauntingly beautiful with the sound that Gira produces on I am Not Insane, while songs like "My Birth" and "Eden Prison (That Way)" sound noisy and powerful. Difficult as it may be to get an inkling of how these demos will eventually turn out, there is a great deal of potential in these songs as Swans songs, particularly in the acerbic nature of the lyrics. The DVD that is included with I am Not Insane contains a great deal of footage, two different live shows and an interesting performance of "Reeling The Liars In," another new song, and an old Swans song.
I am Not Insane delivers in ways that I certainly had not expected when I originally pre-ordered this release; it certainly stands up well on its own, and I find myself listening to it quite a bit. Unfortunately I am Not Insane is completely sold out; so, it might be a bit difficult to track this down. Rest assured, if these songs do make the upcoming Swans record, Swans fans will have quite a bit of quality material over which to rejoice.
