Mercury Rev Single Review – The Queen Of Swans

We’ve been waiting a long time for a new Mercury Rev album – since 2008’s Snowflake Midnight – and, if first single and album opener The Queen Of Swans is anything to go by, The Light In You will have been worth the wait when it is released on 18 September.

This is a sparkling track, which builds in drama like a story being told until it unfolds into an orchestral climax. In true Mercury Rev style the arrangement is elaborately layered, perfectly accompanying Jonathan Donahue’s haunting voice and reflecting the emotion in the lyrics. I find a lump forming in the back of my throat on first listen.

This promises a simply magical return from a band that was always capable of casting a spell.

This article was written for Backseat Mafia