Sword II

Atlanta-based three-piece Sword II share their debut album Spirit World Tour, a snapshot of the collective’s shared life experiences over the past three years, with lyrics that explore refusal, love and rage, degenerates, fluidity, life force and psychological warfare. Starting their journey playing DIY and experimental shows across Atlanta, Sword II have built up a sonic arsenal of boundary-pushing music, combining it with politically charged lyrics. They perform at The Hope & Ruin on 8 September 2026 at 7:00 pm.

Recorded between 2020 and 2022 at their Lakewood, Atlanta basement studio, a few houses down from The Dungeon where The Dungeon Family and Outkast made their first records, a source of inspiration for the band, Spirit World Tour was created over a period of unprecedented times across America and the world. "The album title came to us because we were experimenting with a lot of different styles of music and ways of recording, especially during the pandemic and uprising year of 2020," explains the band. "That whole summer we were immersed in that climate, making friends with people on the street, bringing generators and speakers to demonstrations, washing tear gas from our eyes. And then when we would finally go back home to make music, we had a new perspective on how we wanted to do things."