Angels of Light – The Angels of Light Sing ‘Other People’

All the violence and anger you find in Swans are in this record, and it’s got that self-loathing turned inwards that I like about them too, but there’s also a delicacy to it, and it’s so obviously a labour of love. I’ve met Michael Gira a couple of times and I was a complete fanboy. He told me stories about meeting Johnny Cash and shaking his hand, and how Cash’s hands were like shovels that enveloped his – and Gira’s a big guy!

This is a country-tinged record – it’s Akron/Family doing all the instrumentation – and I love the small sounds: the little bells and dulcimers and weird hand percussion. Lyrically there’s a lot of destroying women: on ‘Destroyer’ there’s a line about a woman whose mouth is full of flames, and ‘My Sister Said’ talks about pursuing a man and killing him. It’s a sweet and gentle record in a lot of ways, and some of the lyrics are beautiful. I love the Swans records too, but I think this is my favourite incarnation of Gira, because a lot of the pose is taken away. It’s a much more naked record. There’s a machismo and a machoness, but it’s a show that actually suggests its opposite; it’s a show that signals weakness, and that’s stayed with me.

You spoke about those references to avenging women. Was that an influence on the Wild Beasts song ‘Daughters’ [from 2014’s Present Tense)?

I’m glad someone spotted that! It’s been five years until someone has called me out on it: ‘Daughters’ is a straight rip, although I tried to add something to it. All my contributions to Present Tense were very Angels of Light-y.