To Be Kind is the thirteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on May 12, 2014. A double album, it was recorded by producer John Congleton in Texas. The songs were developed during the band's 2012 and 2013 tours. The deluxe edition includes a live DVD of the band's performance at the 2013 Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. Critical reception of the album was very positive, continuing a string of well-received albums from the band. The album peaked at number 37 on US Billboard 200, and debuted at number 38 on the UK Albums Chart. Both are the highest chartings that Swans had ever achieved on a studio album and it is the first time that the band cracked the top 40 in both countries. To Be Kind was produced by frontman Michael Gira and recorded by John Congleton at Sonic Ranch and at Congleton's studio in Dallas. Rehearsing commenced at Sonic Ranch in October 2013 and recording began soon after. Mixing was completed with Congleton in December in Dallas. Most of the music was developed while touring in 2012 and 2013. The album features special guests St. Vincent, Cold Specks, Little Annie and Bill Rieflin. On March 21, the song "A Little God in My Hands" as well as the album artwork were revealed. Six images of babies' heads, created by Bob Biggs c. 1976, were used for the album art. Upon its release, To Be Kind was widely praised by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album r