Barsuk Records’ Active Bird Community have announced their new album Amends, will be released on September 14. Amends is the band’s debut release for Barsuk. Active Bird Community have also release the video for the single “Unwind With Me.” The clip was directed by Henry Kinder, and filmed entirely on the back of a truck.

Henry Kinder on the video:

“This choice created tight parameters within which we had to work, but it felt like the only way to achieve exactly what we wanted: to visually represent this state of unsettled displacement that we were both feeling at the time and that we were hearing in the song.”

Of the song, singer/guitarist Tom D’Agustino says, “I don’t think I realized until after the song was finished that it sort of felt like I was declaring bankruptcy on myself. It was finished during a pretty confusing time in my life — my relationship was ending, I had gotten sick with shingles, and it became clear that my life wasn’t going in the right direction or any direction really. I felt like I could take back some control and unravel everything, so I could get back to some sort of starting line. In doing so, I understood that even if tearing down and rebuilding hurts, it’s alright because I’m moving forward, I’m willing a change…”

Active Bird Community have also announced a fall North American tour, beginning with a hometown Brooklyn show on September 27 at Rough Trade. The dates continue throughout the northeast, midwest, and Canada before wrapping up on October 6 at Great Scott in Boston, MA. A current itinerary is below and more dates will be announced soon.

Amends dwells in the intricacies of relationships — broken bonds between friends, family, and lovers — and hoping to heal. A contemplation on loss and forgiveness, the album volleys between the perspectives of D’Agustino and co-songwriter/lead guitarist Andrew Wolfson. “We’ve both written for the records before,” Wolfson says. “But on Stick Around it felt like Tom’s voice was the protagonist and mine was the narrator.” D’Agustino’s anxious search for maturity was countered by Wolfson’s hesitation to stop and absorb the world around them. A similar step-ball-change of action and commentary drives Amends forward, only this time specific memories are unpacked, and the past is explored and confronted rather than avoided.

Active Bird Community
Amends
Tracklist

1. Amends
2. Holier
3. Sweaty Lake
4. Unwind With Me
5. Baby It’s You
6. Virginia
7. Blame
8. Downstairs
9. Metrics
10. Silver Screen
11. Lighthouse