BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

ASTRAL SWANS
lifting the whole damn crowd up
In the three years since releasing his debut as
Astral Swans, Calgary’s Matthew Swann has
been busy. Touring Canada twice following
the release of 2015’s All My Favorite Singers
Are Willie Nelson, once in support of Dan
Mangan, and a second time playing a series
of more intimate shows in alternative venues,
from art galleries to microbreweries.
He has since settled into completing a
follow-up recording, Strange Prison, with co-production
by Paul Chirka a recording engineer
who’s worked with the Calgary Philharmonic
Orchestra, Juno-winning Dan Mangan and Scott
Munro of Preoccupations.
“We spent a lot of tireless nights working
after-hours in his studio space,” explains Swann.
Along the way, Swann also enlisted various
guests, including Rena Kozak (Child Actress) and
Tigerwing. Production on two of the record’s 13
tracks was handled by Mangan.
The result is a more dynamic, more
enthralling and more emotionally complex
recording than its predecessor. It’s brimming
with life, full of texture and character
while maintaining a laid-back, atmospheric
quality. Subtle details, such as the lacing of a
Theremin throughout, make the record shine
while ensuring that no two tracks are alike.
That being said, the record is cohesive and
masterfully arranged, with Swann’s vocals
tying the project together.
The stories presented are unconventional
and at times morbid, seeking to dig to the core
of the human experience and uncover beauty
amongst misfortune.
“The complexities of being human is really the
message. The complex situations that inform our
behaviours and our perceptions of the world,”
explains Swann. For instance, the song Controls
finds him recalling a plane crash he read about
as a child.
“I remember reading all the awful details
of the commercial airline flight, with people
being stuck in this very confined state. And
they’re forced to deal with the complete
absence of control, and submission to this
horrible set of conditions.
“It really haunted me, maybe because it was
the first time I really became aware of the horrible
realities that can happen to human beings.”
Swann uses the ideas of confinement and loss of
BY GARETH JONES
control as a metaphor for trauma in his family
life. He finds that music serves as a vessel to
overcome difficult experiences.
“Songwriting is a way of dealing with those
things, and finding ways to overcome the shittiness
of life, and the world, and the mind.” Music,
says Swann, provides a means of self-expression
that he wouldn’t have had otherwise. “It’s a way
for me to communicate ideas in a different and
more complete way of expressing concepts,
ideas, and parts of myself, emotions and psychological
states.”
Comparisons have been made between the
work of Astral Swans and the likes of Nick Drake
and Daniel Johnston, and it’s easy to see why.
Intimate, often hushed instrumentals paired
with Swann’s ability to pull from and examine
the human condition creates a clear parallel. Despite
the morbid tone his lyrics may take, Swann
strives to find the good.
“It’s really about trying to use beauty as a
means to overcome the limitations of joy in
the world.”
Strange Prison will be released on May 18. Astral
Swans will perform at Massy Book on Sat., June 9
in Vancouver.
ROOTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 49