Among My Swan

''Among My Swan'' is the third studio album by American band Mazzy Star, released on October 29, 1996 by Capitol Records. Although ''Among My Swan'' did not contain any US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits like its predecessor, ''So Tonight That I Might See'', this album garnered the band its highest-ranking single on the UK Singles Chart, when " Flowers in December" reached No. 40 in November 1996.

While the production of ''Among My Swan'' relies less on reverb than the group's previous albums, the music is not markedly different (as evidenced by tracks like "I've Been Let Down", on which Hope Sandoval sings over simple acoustic guitar and harmonica accompaniment).

"Flowers in December", "Disappear", "Happy" and "I've Been Let Down" were all released as singles from the album. Following the release of "I've Been Let Down" in 1997, Mazzy Star went on hiatus, and did not release new music until the single "Common Burn" / "Lay Myself Down" in 2011.

Release and promotion

''Among My Swan'' was released by Capitol Records on October 29, 1996. Mazzy Star opted to eschew mainstream promotion for the record, with Capitol taking what they described as a "long-term approach" towards its marketing. An outtake from the album, "Tell Me Now", appeared on the soundtrack to ''Batman Forever'' in 1995, while album track "Rhymes of an Hour" featured on the soundtrack to ''Stealing Beauty'' prior to the album's release. A senior marketing director at Capitol called Mazzy Star "the quintessential artist-development band. David and Hope are artists. Every album they make is a work of art"; ''Billboard'' noted that both films "nicely bookend Mazzy Star's demographic, with ''Batman Forever'' appealing to the collegiate crowd and the critically acclaimed, art-house ''Stealing Beauty'' skewing toward the band's baby boomer fans."

Music stores were given advance copies of the album from early September; the label conducted a contest where the store which best promoted the album would be rewarded with a live performance from the band. The entire album was serviced to college radio on October 7, and lead single " Flowers in December" was issued to alternative and triple-A stations the following week. The duo appeared on the October 1996 cover of ''Alternative Press'', and a music video for "Flowers in December" was completed that same month. The song remains the duo's only song to enter the top forty of the UK Singles Chart. "I've Been Let Down" was scheduled to be issued as the album's second commercial single in the spring of 1997, but was released solely as a limited edition 7" vinyl in October 1996 as a double A-side with album track "Roseblood".

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number 67 on the ''Billboard'' 200. As of 2001, it has sold over 214,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Hope Sandoval – vocals, harmonica, percussion, songwriter, co-producer, album design
* David Roback – guitars, piano, keyboards, songwriter, producer, audio engineering, album design
* William Cooper – strings, audio engineering
* Jill Emery – bass
* Keith Mitchell – drums
* William Reid – additional guitar on "Take Everything"
* Aaron Sherer – drums on "Take Everything" and "Still Cold"

Production

* Beth Herschaft – photography
* Eddy Schreyer – mastering
* Dale Everingham – engineer
* Tom Cashen – production crew

Usage in media

"Happy", "All Your Sisters", and "Look on Down from the Bridge" are featured in the 2005 film ''Down in the Valley''.

"Look on Down from the Bridge" is featured during a funeral scene and over the end credits of the 1999 ''The Sopranos'' episode " Meadowlands", in the 2011 film ''Texas Killing Fields'', and in two episodes of ''Rick and Morty'', including the 2014 episode " Rick Potion No. 9" when the title characters bury their dead alternate-reality selves and the 2023 episode "Unmortricken" which includes a callback to the original scene.
“Cry, Cry” was featured in a sequence in the 2024 movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Charts

References

Notes

Citations

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Mazzy Star albums
1996 albums
Capitol Records albums