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After touring the world as a member of the Postal Service in 2013, Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds) took a year to get lost. She drove across the US twice, toured South Africa solo, made her first appearance in London (also solo), and trekked all over Europe with William Faulkner’s words ...
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The Mynabirds Announce New Album Out 8/7 + Share Track
The Mynabirds are proud to announce their third full-length album, Lovers Know, set for release on August 7 via Saddle Creek. Led by Laura Burhenn and produced by Bradley Hanan Carter of Black English, the album was recorded internationally over a yearlong period and forges into previously unexplored territory. Exploring influences of 80s, 90s, and futuristic soundscapes, the record recalls Kate Bush, Sinead O’Connor, Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine. The result is arguably one of Burhenn’s most personal and confessional works to date, yet also her most accessible.
The lead single from the forthcoming album “Semantics” premiered on NPR All Songs Considered who proclaim “Laura Burhenn’s pop wisdom shines through on this shimmering single.” Be sure to listen and share the track, streaming now on YouTube.
A perfect intro to an album steeped in “break-up” themes, “Semantics” explores the complicated optics that color any long-term love. “Have you heard about the Buddhist monks who meditated on polluted water molecules?” asks Burhenn. “The molecules changed from sad, brown amorphous things into beautiful geometric shapes that looked genuinely happy. That's pretty much what this song is about. Long love is tough and it takes a lot of effort. It gets bent out of shape, and brown and a little amorphous over time. So in ‘Semantics’ I'm asking, "Does it matter what we call things, what we call 'Us'? And yeah, it does. It can change everything. If we call love something beautiful, if we put the energy into it being that, we can transform into that.”
Lovers Know is loaded with a fresh palette of new sounds — radiating synths, gauzy electric guitars, and electronic drums – but Burhenn’s brooding, unmistakable voice still leads the way. Often depicted on the album are the universal themes of love, loss, and seeking connection. “Love – or the lack of it – is the thing we all have in common. It can destroy us. It can break us open and let the light in. And it’s also the thing that can make us sing,” says Burhenn.