Daughter of Swords

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Daughter of Swords
Biography (Excerpt)

Dawnbreaker is the debut album from Daughter of Swords, the solo project of Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. 

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Facebook URL
https://www.facebook.com/daughterofswordsband/
Twitter URL
https://twitter.com/swordsdaughter
Instagram URL
https://www.instagram.com/swordsdaughter/
Youtube URL
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7aH30M4dhGmvIWclIv3fTw

Daughter of Swords, a.k.a. Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, released her debut album, Dawnbreaker, on June 28, 2019, via Nonesuch Records (Bella Union in Europe). The album’s ten songs, inspired by a breakup that had yet to happen, lament the inevitable loss but, more importantly, outline the promise of the future. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, who co-produced the record with her, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. Guests include Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson. 

"'Dawnbreaker’ is about waking to the day beautifully breaking around you, and waking also to the realization that the life you've been leading is breaking with it," Sauser-Monnig says of the title song. "The version of ‘Dawnbreaker’ that is on the record was one of the first takes recorded of the whole record. It wasn't really intended to be the final version of the song, but as the rest of the record came together, we realized that the rawness of that first take embodied the emotional quality that the record wanted to end on."

Last month, Daughter of Swords released "Gem," which was hailed by NPR as "a slice of poppy folk music so sweetly radiant, it's essentially a summer sunbeam in song form." The Wild Honey Pie called it "a precious summer-soaked keepsake, a treasure found amongst sweet green grasses."

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Latest Release

  • February 5, 2020

    Daughter of Swords (Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig)’s single “Prairie Winter Wasteland” was produced by Jeff Tweedy and recorded at his Chicago studio The Loft. Tweedy joins her on a variety of instruments, with his son Spencer on drums and Nick Macri on bass. The song “is a reflection on the way our emotional experiences of place are shaped in powerful and mystical ways by the people we’ve know there,” says Sauser-Monnig. “The way a certain quality of sunlight, or the call of a particular bird can conjure such specific associations, and can break your heart or lift you up.”

Releases

News

  • February 28, 2022

    Daughter of Swords (aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig) kicks off a two-week tour of the United States as special guest of The Tallest Man on Earth this Tuesday, March 1, at Fête Music Hall in Providence. The tour continues up and down the East Coast with shows in Boston, Portsmouth, New Haven, DC, Richmond, New York City, and Philadelphia, before culminating with two sold-out shows at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on March 14 and 15. 

  • April 29, 2020

    Daughter of Swords—aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig—gave a Tiny Desk Concert for the staff of NPR back in February. She performed songs from her debut solo album, Dawnbreaker—"Long Leaf Pine" and "Shining Woman"—as well as her Jeff Tweedy–produced single "Prairie Winter Wasteland." "Between the rustic sweetness of the arrangements and Sauser-Monnig's between-song banter," says NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, "Daughter of Swords' set doubles as a fine way to trick your doctor into not prescribing blood-pressure medication. In anxious times, it'll settle you right down." You can watch it here. She has also released a new single, a cover of the hymn "What Wondrous Love Is This?," and has launched a Patreon.

Tour

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About Daughter of Swords

  • Daughter of Swords, a.k.a. Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, released her debut album, Dawnbreaker, on June 28, 2019, via Nonesuch Records (Bella Union in Europe). The album’s ten songs, inspired by a breakup that had yet to happen, lament the inevitable loss but, more importantly, outline the promise of the future. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, who co-produced the record with her, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. Guests include Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson. 

    "'Dawnbreaker’ is about waking to the day beautifully breaking around you, and waking also to the realization that the life you've been leading is breaking with it," Sauser-Monnig says of the title song. "The version of ‘Dawnbreaker’ that is on the record was one of the first takes recorded of the whole record. It wasn't really intended to be the final version of the song, but as the rest of the record came together, we realized that the rawness of that first take embodied the emotional quality that the record wanted to end on."

    Last month, Daughter of Swords released "Gem," which was hailed by NPR as "a slice of poppy folk music so sweetly radiant, it's essentially a summer sunbeam in song form." The Wild Honey Pie called it "a precious summer-soaked keepsake, a treasure found amongst sweet green grasses."

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