What can be more exciting news than the release of a new album by SWANS? Well…the release of a new solo album by Peter Murphy, and the resurfacing of These New Puritans, Somatic Responses and DARKWOOD is the answer. If, like us, you enjoy music that could be considered mutually exclusive, and despite this, you can still identify the common thread that ties all of these albums together, then I think we need to sit down and have a beer with you 🙂
‘Birthing‘ the new offering by SWANS is everything that is expected by the band. Apart from ‘Red Yellow’ all the other songs in this album are over 10′ long. This is a slow burner, with a tried and tested recipe that the band has refined over the years. Michael Gira, a summoner like those very few out there, is giving the signal needed for each song to open its tentacles to all sorts of dimensions. In his own words Gira has said about this album: “In all cases the material began with me sitting in my office with an acoustic guitar, singing and dreaming about what would become of these skeletal songs…” just before he throws a sort of bombshell: “We’ll do a final tour in this mode towards the end of 2025, then that’s it.” That’s IT? “After that, Swans will continue, so long as I’m able, but in a significantly pared down form.” We shall take this with a pinch of salt…for now.
Moving towards a less dark sonic part of this monthly soundtrack, we encounter ‘Crooked Wing‘ the new album by These New Puritans. Alternating tracks that bring to mind pre-classical compositions, others that belong to the sphere of dreamscapes, and others that explore krautrock dimensions, the band has offered us a lot of food for thought in this album.
In the realm of post-punk, we had the pleasure to enjoy really nice albums by Shad Shadows, No and The Discussion. ‘wunderhammer desire‘, ‘Desire Kills‘ and ‘All the pretty flowers‘ will definitely keep any dancefloor that hosts them very busy. With addictive and melodic synthwave soundscapes and motivating rhythms all three albums will keep fans of coldwave and darkwave music inspired.
Finally a special mention is due to Nytt Land who have reimagined Shamanic spells and set them to a different sound than they had in their original form. ‘Songs of the Shaman‘ is an album with an inspiring collection of positive spells employing throat singing and text in its original language. We believe this is the best way to prepare you for the upcoming Summer Solstice so…enjoy them with a shovel at hand or with your poison of choice in an unusual chalice.
Blaue Rosen 
