When I saw the announcement of Gira’s plans to re-form Swans for a new tour and album, I was instantly excited. The first reason was obvious: Swans are reuniting (!), regardless of what Gira might say to the contrary. He’ll be playing with Norm Westberg, Phil Puelo and Christopher Hahn. All three were members of Swans, and the first two have not toured with him since the band was together. The second reason for joy is that he announced his plans to finance the recording of the album with the profits of another solo-acoustic CD through his website. The last time he did this, Gira accidentally recorded one of his best albums. I Am Singing to You From My Room may have been a collection of demos, but it rivaled the more polished versions of the same songs that appeared on The Angels of Light’s Sing Other People. So would I Am Not Insane be another wonderful album of acoustic songs, or would it merely be a collection of demos—a blueprint for the upcoming album? While we cant’s know for sure how these songs compare with the final album, it already seems clear that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. While not as amazing as I Am Singing to You From My Room, I Am Not Insane includes songs that need no polishing or additional instrumentation. However, it is still not an album’s worth of fully written songs.

“Jim,” the first song on I Am Not Insane, actually brings to mind Gira’s first solo-acoustic CD, Solo Recordings at Home. Like “What You Were,” “Jim” starts off slow, haunting and uneven, and eventually segues into a more melodious finale. Only this time, Gira accomplishes in three minutes what before took him five. As a fully formed song it’s hard to understand where he’s going with it, and taking Swans’ past recordings as a reference point, it is difficult to imagine how these songs will translate once he brings in a full band. Swans weren’t exactly a singer/songwriter act. Second track “No Words/No Thoughts” actually does sound like a rough demo for the whole band, but as a song it fails. Instead of bringing the listener in with words and melody, Gira makes his acoustic guitar and his voice about as assaultive as possible. It makes for an interesting listen, but not a particularly enjoyable one.

The best moments of this album are the ones that it is hardest to envision being recorded by a full band. Between Gira’s guitar and singing, “Eden Prison (That Way)” has so much going on that I don’t see the need to add anything else. It has an urgency and intensity that could be ruined by a full band. However, its sister, “Eden Prison (This Way),” sounds more like a demo that will be radically re-worked before completion. Other songs that sound finished tend to be quieter. “Little Mouth” is actually at its best when Gira sings with no instrumentation. “My Lazy Clown,” a duet with his wife Siobhan Duffy, has a relaxed feel to it that is decidedly un-Swans.

The album closes with two previously released songs that feel like unnecessary add-ons. The first is “Promise of Water,” a song from 2007’s Angels of Light album We Are Him. The version here is somewhere in between the haunting version on the album and the much louder, more visceral version that Gira plays live. Given its attempt to straddle the two extremes, it doesn’t accomplish much. “Failure” is even less worthwhile seeing that a nearly identical solo-acoustic version was on the Angels of Light live album We Were Alive!. The album also includes a version of “My Birth” which was played on Swans’ final tour, but never recorded in the studio. The version included here is actually more intense than the live version. However, this might just be a relative comparison—“My Birth” was one of the quieter songs on a very loud tour. Here, it has nothing to drown it out.

In the end, I Am Not Insane is the most uneven of Gira’s three solo-acoustic CDs. This is somewhat surprising since it is also the only one not to feature any live tracks or anything recorded with a full band. Perhaps this is because all of the songs on here were recorded with a radically different vision of the final product. Tracks like “Oxygen” and “Opium Song” may have a certain intensity to them, but they sound far from complete. I am hoping Gira learns a lesson from his last acoustic CD and follow-up album, and records something very different from this. Not because I don’t like what I hear on this album, but because the band that he has formed as Swans is capable of so much more.

This album also includes a DVD with two live performances. I have omitted mentioning them in this review because they are not very good. I was at the Highline Ballroom show that is included, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, it did not translate well to video. Also, because this album is sold out on Young God Records, those who want to hear it in the future will most likely get a copy for free, despite Gira’s request that you, “please do not upload any of the material contained in this package onto the web or ‘share’ it all over the god damn place.”

Track List:
1. Jim
2. No Words / No Thoughts
3. Reeling The Liars In
4. My Birth
5. Little Mouth
6. Eden Prison (That Way)
7. Eden Prison (This Way)
8. My Lazy Clown
9. Opium Song
10. Inside Madeline
11. Oxygen
12. Promise Of Water
13. Failure