Interspersed with a variety of instrumental pieces and loops which add nicely to the album's overall flow -- including a number of random interview clips which would become an even more central motif to the band's work in future albums --
Love of Life
continues the astounding creative roll
Swans
found themselves on with
White Light
. As with that album, the group here consists first and foremost of
Gira
and
Jarboe
, with a variety of assisting performers:
Westberg
has finally left the picture entirely, leaving
Steele
as the new main guitarist, and interestingly enough, two long-time veterans return -- the rhythm section of
Kizys
Parsons
-- though other bassists and drummers perform on the album as well. Again, though, this is very much
's album, given that they're in charge of all songwriting, as well as all keyboards and arrangements, building from the newly refined combination of epic scope and delicacy of touch from
. The first two full songs provide a near-perfect start for
Love
: The title track has a quick, rushed pace and pulse, with stabs of further percussion and keyboards to provide underscoring energy to
's excellent singing, while
"The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed by the Sea"
captures
at their most self-consciously mythic, with a subtly descending chord defining the sweeping, string-heavy song as
invokes near Blakean images of crowds, shorelines, and the titular boy, laden with deceptively simple power.
's own vocals, as ever, are exquisite, investing
"The Other Side of the World"
and her own lyric
"She Crys (For Spider)"
with her beautiful, rich singing. With such further successes as the first gentle then pounding love song
"Her"
(combined with a poignant interview clip) and the snarling kick of
"Amnesia"
to its overall credit as well,
unsurprisingly proves to be yet another
masterpiece. ~ Ned Raggett