The Mynabirds - Lovers Know

The Mynabirds
Lovers Know
2015

With an album title like Lovers Know you would expect something flowery about love and how it can conquer all. With the Mynabirds latest record you would be very wrong. Lovers Know instead is a reflection on a lifetime of opening one's self up and having your hopes dashed on the rocks of reality. You would think that this take on song writing would mean lots of strings and an acoustic guitar however interestingly The Mynabirds take a more industrial sound (a la The Postal Service, who Laura Burhenn has actually sung for in the past). This tends to create a deeper more emotional experience because it is something new, not the same old singer songwriter tropes of an acoustic guitar and a stool that we are all used to. Laura Burhenn's throaty voice is the clear driving factor on the entirety of the album. Her restraint leaves the listener wanting to get deeper and deeper just to hear another note, you are always in a holding pattern waiting for the whole song to break wide open, but it rarely does. This adds to the overarching sense of sadness that fills every bit of space of this record. Much like Braids' latest record Lovers Know is aware that being sad doesn't always mean something bad or wrong, but sometimes sadness can be quite beautiful.

The thought of being wide open with someone is a scary one, but also a beautiful idea. That is where The Mynabirds are trying to take you, on that journey of love, loss and love again. On "Hanged Man" Burhenn does finally let her voice open up despite that same industrial sound swelling around her. The contrast leads to that eyes closed head back listening intently experience that so many artists strive for but never quite reach. Some people might think that this record is challenging, but everything is really easily accessible if you are looking in the right direction. It is a heart laid bare, but not lost in despair but instead ready to dust off and try it all again. Lovers Know is not one to miss, though odds are most people will.

7 out of 10