Billy Corgan returns to talk about the Zwan catalog and anticipates a rich series of publications dedicated to his short but celebrated supergroup. The Smashing Pumpkins leader revealed that, in addition to the re-release of “Mary Star Of The Sea”, there could even be two albums composed of completely new material.
Zwan was born in 2001 with an exceptional lineup: in addition to Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, it included Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle), David Pajo (Slint) and Matt Sweeney (Chavez). The band released just one album, “Mary Star Of The Sea,” in 2003, before breaking up the following year. In 2006 Corgan definitively returned to lead the Smashing Pumpkins.
The idea of recovering the Zwan archives is not new. Already in 2023, on the occasion of the album's twentieth anniversary, Corgan announced that he was working on a box set containing dozens of never-released recordings. Now, in an interview with Stereogum, the musician explained that he has expanded the project.
“All of the Zwan songs on the original 'Mary Star Of The Sea' album will be remixed and remastered, and there will be perhaps two more LPs of previously unreleased songs. Since there is so much Zwan material, I will release it in several collections. Otherwise the set would contain something like 20 records… and that's just too much to ask of the fans.”
The singer then underlined how prolific the band was during its short existence: “There are over 60 unreleased Zwan songs that have never been released. Not just alternative versions, but completely new songs. There was a lot of writing in that band.”
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
