The Glowing Man

The Glowing Man
Studio album by Swans
Released June 17, 2016 (2016-06-17)
Genre Post-rock, experimental rock, drone, noise rock
Length 118:23
Language English
Label
Producer Michael Gira
Swans chronology
The Gate
(2015)		 The Glowing Man
(2016)

The Glowing Man is the fourteenth studio album by American experimental band Swans, released June 17, 2016 on Young God and Mute.[1][2]

The song "The World Looks Red/The World Looks Black" contains lyrics written by frontman Michael Gira that were used in the Sonic Youth song "The World Looks Red" in the album Confusion Is Sex. The music itself, however, is unrelated.[2] The title track has previously been referred to as "Black Hole Man"[3] and "Black-Eyed Man". The song "When Will I Return?" was uploaded to YouTube on May 27, 2016.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubB+[7]
Mojo[8]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[9]
Slant Magazine[10]
Sunderland Echo9/10[11]
Spin Magazine8/10[12]
Exclaim!8/10[13]

Upon its release, The Glowing Man was widely praised by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for Exclaim!, Griffin J. Elliot called the album "a meticulous exercise in the band's streamlining their abstract sound, taking what they've done before and playing it under a newer, grander spotlight."[13] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni wrote for Pitchfork, "The love in [Gira's] music is as terrible as it is beautiful, a wrenching act of spiritual determination. Swans make this sound effortless, though, in a fitting end to a remarkable chapter of their career."[9]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016

Track listing

All music composed by Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christopher Pravdica, Kristof Hahn, Michael Harris & Philip Puleo, except where noted.

Disc one
No. TitleMusic Length
1. "Cloud of Forgetting"    12:43
2. "Cloud of Unknowing"    25:12
3. "The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black"  Michael Gira 14:27
4. "People Like Us"  Michael Gira 4:32
Disc two
No. TitleMusic Length
5. "Frankie M."    20:58
6. "When Will I Return?"  Michael Gira 5:26
7. "The Glowing Man"    28:50
8. "Finally, Peace."  Michael Gira 6:15
Total length:
 118:23

[15]

Personnel

Adapted from the official Young God Records website:[2]

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 69
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[20] 49
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 54
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 61
US Billboard 200[24] 151

References

  1. ↑ Camp, Zoe (April 5, 2016). "Swans Announce New Album The Glowing Man, Share Title Track: Listen". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Glowing Man (preorder)". Young God Records. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Swans Live Review @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn Vegan". Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ SWANS (May 27, 2016). "When Will I Return". Retrieved June 15, 2016 – via YouTube.
  5. ↑ "Reviews for The Glowing Man by Swans". Metacritic. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ Simpson, Paul. "The Glowing Man – Swans". AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Warwick, Kevin (June 17, 2016). "With The Glowing Man, Michael Gira Caps Off Swans' Golden Age of Exploration". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  8. ↑ Segal, Victoria (July 2016). "Swans: THe Glowing Man". Mojo (272): 92. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (June 21, 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Cataldo, Jesse (June 7, 2016). "Swans: The Glowing Man". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Swans: The Glowing Man". Sunderland Echo. June 7, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Swans: The Glowing Man". Spin Magazine. June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Elliot, Griffin J. (June 16, 2016). "Swans - The Glowing Man". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Images for Swans - The Glowing Man". Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  16. ↑ http://younggodrecords.com/products/the-glowing-man
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Swans – The Glowing Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Swans – The Glowing Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Swans – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Swans. Retrieved June 28, 2016.

External links

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