Leaving Meaning

Upon its release, Leaving Meaning received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Leaving Meaning received an average score of 75, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[5] Andrew Perry of Mojo gave the album a favorable review, comparing it partly to The Burning World and writing, "Whatever the sonic weather, Gira's spiritual austerity remains unimpaired."^[9]

Accolades

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Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Les Inrocks	Top 100 Albums of 2019	98	[16]
Magnet	Top 25 Albums of 2019	23	[17]
Mondo Sonoro	Top 40 Albums of 2019	18	[18]
Rough Trade	Top 100 Albums of 2019	19	[19]

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Summarize Fact Check

CD & digital version

All tracks are written by Michael Gira, except "Hums" by Gira, Kristof Hahn, Christopher Pravdica, Norman Westberg^[20]

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Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hums"	2:00
2.	"Annaline"	5:17
3.	"The Hanging Man"	10:48
4.	"Amnesia"	5:49
5.	"Leaving Meaning"	11:21
6.	"Sunfucker"	10:43
Total length:		45:58

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Disc two

No.	Title	Length
7.	"Cathedrals of Heaven"	7:49
8.	"The Nub"	12:01
9.	"It's Coming It's Real"	7:42
10.	"Some New Things"	7:09
11.	"What Is This?"	6:05
12.	"My Phantom Limb"	6:26
Total length:		47:12

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Vinyl version

All tracks are written by Michael Gira, except "Hums" by Gira, Kristof Hahn, Christopher Pravdica, Norman Westberg^[20]

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Vinyl version (Side A)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Annaline"	5:17
2.	"The Hanging Man" (shortened mix)	9:55
3.	"Amnesia"	5:49
Total length:		21:01

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Vinyl version (Side B)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Leaving Meaning" (shortened mix)	10:37
2.	"Sunfucker" (shortened mix)	10:22
Total length:		20:59

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Vinyl version (Side C)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hums" (shortened mix)	1:46
2.	"Cathedrals of Heaven"	7:49
3.	"The Nub" (shortened mix)	10:59
Total length:		20:34

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Vinyl version (Side D)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Coming It's Real" (shortened mix)	7:29
2.	"What Is This?"	6:05
3.	"My Phantom Limb"	6:26
Total length:		20:00

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Adapted from the official Young God Records website^[2] and album liner notes:^[21]

Swans

• Michael Gira – vocals, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, production, art design
• Kristof Hahn – lap steel guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Larry Mullins – drums, percussion, vibes, Mellotron, keyboards, synth, backing vocals
• Yoyo Röhm – electric bass guitar, double bass, keyboards, piano, synth, backing vocals

Previous Swans

• Thor Harris – percussion, trumpet, clarinet, sounds, bells, gizmos, additional vibes
• Christopher Pravdica – bass guitar, sounds
• Phil Puleo – hammered dulcimer ("Amnesia"), art layout and execution
• Norman Westberg – electric guitar
• Paul Wallfisch – piano

Guests

• Chris Abrahams (The Necks) – piano, organ ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning")
• Tony Buck (The Necks) – drums, percussion ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning", "Some New Things")
• Lloyd Swanton (The Necks) – double bass ("The Nub", "Leaving Meaning")
• Baby Dee – lead vocal ("The Nub")
• Fay Christen – backing vocals ("The Nub")
• Ida Albertje Michels – backing vocals ("The Nub")
• Cassis Staudt – accordion, harmonium (on various songs)
• Anna von Hausswolff – choral/backing vocals ("Sunfucker", "Amnesia", "It's Coming Real")
• Maria von Hausswolff – choral/backing vocals ("Sunfucker", "Amnesia", "It's Coming Real")
• Ben Frost – guitar, synths, sound manipulations (throughout), engineer
• Jennifer Gira – various backing vocals (throughout), cameo vocal ("Sunfucker")
• Jeremy Barnes (A Hawk and a Hacksaw) – santur, hi-hat, fiddlesticks, accordion, engineering
• Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw) – Stroh violin, violin, viola, fiddlesticks, engineering
• Dana Schechter – bass ("Some New Things"), sounds
• Mika Bajinksi – additional backing vocals
• Marie-Claire Schlameus – additional backing vocals
• Swan Gira – laughter
• Saoirse Gira – laughter
• Tatiana Hahn – host

Other contributors^{[22][unreliable source?]}

• Ingo Krauss – engineer on basic tracks at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin; mixing
• Jason LaFarge – engineer at Seizure's Palace, Brooklyn, NY
• Francesco Fabris – assistant engineer at Ben Frost studio, Reykjavik
• Sander Stuer – assistant engineer at Ben Frost studio, Reykjavik
• Doug Henderson – mastering
• Paul A. Taylor – art layout and execution