Danish band Communions were formerly a foursome, but are now stripped down to the core duo of brothers Mads and Martin Rehof. This creative intimacy has opened up some new avenues for the band, which will be fully explored on their new album Pure Fabrication, which arrives on April 23 through Tambourhinoceros. Ahead of that, they’ve shared a new single called “Bird of Passage”, saying:
““Bird of Passage” works like the chorus for the entire record. It centers around the idea that people constantly transform and reinterpret the past in new ways by constructing narratives around themselves. It’s about the kind of identity crisis that emerges as a natural consequence of life’s variability; of the fact that one’s self is constantly changing, never the same from one day to the next.”
When someone tells you ‘you’ve changed’, it’s often meant as a criticism, but in “Bird of Passage” the Danes are taking those moments of personal growth and blowing them up with pride and power in an indie anthem that is festival-ready (if only we could hear it this year). Buffeting guitar and drums drive the song onwards, as Mads’ voice rides atop with pure passion that is reflected in clanging piano chords. This builds to the cathartic chorus where he pulls together both the inevitability and the beauty of change in the announcement “I am nature’s bird of passage,” with the freedom of someone who has accepted that personal evolution is an unavoidable part of human nature.
Listen to “Bird of Passage” on streaming platforms or watch the video, which includes footage from the band’s childhood, below.
Communions’ new album Pure Fabrication comes out on April 23 through Tambourhinoceros (pre-order). You can find the band on Bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
