Newly Sentient Being is the eleventh live album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on October 2, 2026, via Young God Records. It has been labeled as the final record in the "big sound" era of the band, recorded on November 28, 2025, in Berlin during the Birthing tour. The album contains three entirely new tracks, one from Birthing with compositional revisions ("The Merge"), and one from The Beggar ("Paradise Is Mine"). Physical releases of the record contain a DVD of the performance directed by Marco Porsia and Peter Harton. At 160 minutes in length, it is the band's second longest official release, coming in behind Live Rope, which runs for over three hours.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Swans
Michael Gira – guitar, voice, words, production, drawings, art direction Norman Westberg – guitar Dana Schechter – lap steel guitar, bass guitar, loops Phil Puleo – drums, dulcimer, layout Larry Mullins – Mellotron, keyboards, synthesizer, drums Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, loops Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar, loops, Taishōgoto
Other contributors
Laura Carbone – additional vocals on "Paradise Is Mine" Lucy Kruger – additional vocals on "Paradise Is Mine" Hieronymus Melchers – live sound engineer and concert recording Emily Mackrell – additional live sound recording Ingo Krauss – mixing Doug Henderson – mastering Mac Janas – band photos
References