Swans launch European tour; UK dates start next week – ‘Birthing’ out now via Mute / Young God
Swans (Photo by Josef Puleo)
Swans, the New York experimental rock group led by Michael Gira, are on a European tour with UK shows beginning next week. Support on all dates is Jessica Moss. The run is the final tour in this “big sound” configuration Michael Gira confirms: “It constitutes my final foray (as producer / impresario) into the all-consuming sound worlds that have been my obsession for years… After that, Swans will continue, so long as I’m able, but in a significantly pared down form.”
The touring line-up consists of Michael Gira, Kristof Hahn, Dana Schechter, Larry Mullins, Phil Puleo, Christopher Pravdica, and Norman Westberg.
Their seventeenth studio album, “Birthing,” was released on May 30, 2025 via Mute / Young God Records on triple vinyl, double CD, and digital formats. Initial CD/vinyl pressings include a bonus DVD. The material contained in this album was largely developed over the course of a yearlong Swans tour, during 2023–2024 and is coupled with the recent live release, “Live Rope”.
Produced by Michael Gira it was recorded at Soundfabrik Berlin (with engineer Ingo Krauss and assistant Kiron Gaudi), mixed at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin (by Ingo Krauss) and mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose, Berlin.
Below is the video for the album track “The Healers”.
Swans Tour (Europe / UK)
- 31 Oct – Ljubljana (SI), Kino Šiška
- 1 Nov – Zagreb (HR), Boogaloo
- 3 Nov – Ferrara (IT), Teatro Comunale
- 4 Nov – Milan (IT), Auditorium di Milano
- 6 Nov – Paris (FR), Trabendo
- 7 Nov – Leeds (UK), Project House
- 9 Nov – London (UK), Electric Brixton
- 10 Nov – London (UK), Electric Brixton
- 11 Nov – London (UK), Electric Brixton
- 14 Nov – Leiden (NL), Nobel
- 15 Nov – Nijmegen (NL), Doornroosje
- 17 Nov – Copenhagen (DK), VEGA Store
- 19 Nov – Oslo (NO), Vulkan Arena
- 20 Nov – Stockholm (SE), Slaktkyrkan
- 22 Nov – Tallinn (EE), Paavli Kultuurivabrik
- 24 Nov – Vilnius (LT), Kablys
- 25 Nov – Warsaw (PL), Stodoła
- 27 Nov – Berlin (DE), Festsaal Kreuzberg
- 28 Nov – Berlin (DE), Festsaal Kreuzberg
About Swans
Swans was formed in New York City in 1981 by Michael Gira. Early line-ups featured Gira with drummer Jonathan Kane and guitarist Sue Hanel among others, emerging from the city’s no wave and post-punk milieu.
Their first phase (1982–1997) moved from the punishing noise of “Filth” and “Cop” to the hybrid industrial/atmospheric approach on “Children of God,” then acoustic-leaning material on “The Burning World,” followed by the melodic “White Light from the Mouth of Infinity” and “Love of Life,” and the expansive “The Great Annihilator.”
The period culminated in 1996 with the double-album “Soundtracks for the Blind,” after which Gira disbanded the group.
From 1997 to 2010, Gira recorded and toured as Angels of Light and developed Young God Records, releasing artists including Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family. Swans were reactivated in 2010 with “My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky,” followed by “The Seer” (2012), “To Be Kind” (2014), and “The Glowing Man” (2016/2017 live documentation). A revised, fluid line-up returned on “Leaving Meaning” (2019) and “The Beggar” (2023).
“Birthing” (2025) is the seventeenth studio album, issued by Mute / Young God. Current members are Michael Gira, Kristof Hahn, Christopher Pravdica, Phil Puleo, Larry Mullins, Dana Schechter, and Norman Westberg.
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