One of the finest sets at the Primavera Festival earlier this year was an astonishing performance by Swans. Largely playing new material, they summoned up a powerful, pure, unrelenting energy that built on the sounds of last year's fantastic My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky - see video below. Some of this new material, we learn, will make up the new Swans album. "Fans who have seen the recent Swans show will be familiar with some of the new material, which has been developing throughout the tour," reads a statement issued today. "They’ll also be aware that a few of the songs are now over 30 minutes in length, making their live set a comfortable 2 ½ hours long. As it turns out, the new album will likely approach that length as well." Some of this new material will be played at Swans' forthcoming appearance at ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror festival in London, details here.

The first phase of sessions for the as-yet-untitled album finished on July 12th. They took place at Studio P4 in the former East Berlin radio station complex, and at Einsturzende Neubauten’s old studio, Andere Baustelle. Kevin McMahon (of Marcata Recording in Gardiner New York) came to Berlin to record the band. You can see a fantastic gallery of Swans in the studio by Amelie Sjöstrand Gereholt here.

The statement continues: "Recordings will resume at Marcata in early October, when Swans conclude their year-plus World Tour. The album will be released in early 2012. Michael Gira (who is producing the album) has yet to decide in what format(s) the album will be made available. The album will be released through Young God Records."

"In other Swans news, Gira is busy compiling a live Swans album, culled from dozens of live recordings of the recent tour. Possibly a small amount will be made available in stores, but the primary form of release will be a limited edition hand made version (with wood block print and drawing by Gira) available exclusively at the Young God website. Proceeds generated from the live album will go towards defraying the costs associated with the new studio album. The live album will be available in October."

New tracks include:

'A Piece of the Sky'
'The Apostate'
'Avatar'
'Lunacy'
'Mother of the World'
'The Daughter Brings the Water'
'The Seer'

Swans are: Michael Gira – guitar, vocals
Norman Westberg – guitar
Christoph Hahn – lap steel guitar, guitar
Phil Puleo – drums, percussion
Thor Harris – drums, percussion
Christopher Pravdica – bass.