Swoon

Swoon is the second album by Los Angeles alternative rock band Silversun Pickups. The album was produced by Dave Cooley, who had worked with the band on their first album, Carnavas. Recording began in July 2008. The name of the album comes from a line in the lead in to the second track, "The Royal We".

After a completing their Carnavas/Pikul tour in Christmas 2007, the band took a break until February of the next year. They began recording in their own studio named The Dark. During the recording process the band laid down as many as 17 songs which were eventually cut down to 10 for the album. On February 17, the band posted a list of the songs expected to be on Swoon on their MySpace blog.

The album was released on April 15, 2009. The first single released was Panic Switch. On April 6, the track There's No Secrets This Year was released as a single on various online music stores. The bonus track Currency of Love was released exclusively on iTunes with pre-orders in the U.S. and Canada, but was issued as a regular album track in other countries. The song Ne Plus Ultra was released as a B-Side on the single Panic Switch.

Two tracks off of the album, "Panic Switch" and It's Nice to Know You Work Alone, have been released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero: World Tour as part of a track pack released on April 9.

Artwork
As with Carnavas, the album's packaging features the artwork of Darren Waterston, this time using his 2008 piece St.Clair as the basis for the cover art. The inside packing also features Waterston's pieces Disembodiment and Reverberations. All paintings are from his collection entitled The Flowering.

Reception

Like Carnavas, Swoon received mostly positive reviews from critics. It accumulated a score of 72 out of 100 in Metacritic, based on 13 reviews. The album reached the seventh spot on the Billboard 200 with 43,000 copies sold in its first week, while Carnavas peaked only at number 80 on the Billboard 200.

Professional Reviews
★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ – Drowned in Sound
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ – AllMusic
★★★★★★★☆☆☆ – Rolling Stone
★★★★★★★☆☆☆ – Spin
★★★★★★★★★☆ – NME
★★★★☆ – Sputnikmusic
5.3/10 – Pitchfork
85% – Absolutepunk