When I listen to "Bird of Passage" from Denmark based Communions, the project of brothers Martin (vox, guitar) and Mads Rehof (bass), I get to this wistful place that exists somewhere between a cold breakdown and a warm intoxication. I don't know why really but it may be because it feels a bit nostalgic, like some old comforting song may lie underneath it like old wall paper revealed when peeling back wall paper in a new dwelling. And the melody, beautifully crooned by Martin on what feels kind of like an anthemic and crushingly sad U2 song. Remember when U2 and Bono held sway? Well, there is something over-reaching and so vast about "Bird of Passage" although the poetry here feels much more artistically vague and askew than any U2 song.
"I am nature’s bird of passage
I don’t remember
Who I really am
And like a sphinx
I’m born a prince
I make my kingdom everywhere"
Martin shares: “-Bird of Passage- tries to put words to the themes of change and variability; that one is never the same person from one day to another”
I don’t remember
Who I really am
And like a sphinx
I’m born a prince
I make my kingdom everywhere"
Martin shares: “-Bird of Passage- tries to put words to the themes of change and variability; that one is never the same person from one day to another”
The song is as moving as it's contextual movement, it's endearing questions about life and our place in this world. "Birds of Passage" is from Communions' sophomore album "Pure Fabrication" and feature long-time bandmates Jacob van Deurs Formann and Frederik Lind Köppen who have since moved on.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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Few Danish bands have been so far around the block at such a young age as Communions.
In 2014, while still in highschool and still shaking dust from the rafters of Mayhem — Copenhagen’s famed underground venue — Communions released their debut EP Cobblestones. The release marked the beginning of a long and productive streak for the band, who followed it up with the 2015 Communions EP, the 2017 album Blue, a string of self-released singles and an EP, Flesh and Gore, Dream and Vapor, in 2019. Now Communions have joined Tambourhinoceros with a new, reshaped constellation.
Communions’ Rehof brothers — Martin (vocals and guitar) and Mads (Bass) — have decided to continue at the helm of the band after the departure of their long-time bandmates Jacob van Deurs Formann and Frederik Lind Köppen (although the two still feature in the forthcoming Communions recordings). Letting their brotherly musical connection take center stage, the Rehof brothers have assembled a new five piece constellation around themselves going forwards, adding even more depth to their indie rock.
Communions’s early work drew inspiration from the underground scene’s punk cynicism, evidenced by their lofi debut EP which was recorded — with amps blaring — straight onto a USB microphone. Communions’ next two EPs and debut album saw the band refine their craft of songwriting and production while riding a wave of international attention and festival performances. Their forthcoming music now represents another shift in the Communions aesthetic. Marked by sharp cultural criticism, self reflection, and artistic commentary of a grand scale, Communions’ new music takes the signature indie rock from the dark clubs of their youth and merges it with full-fleshed cerebral critique and symbolism.
Through shimmering, grand feeling guitar hooks and emotional vocals reminiscent of The Appleseed Cast, Preoccupations, or Suede, Copenhagen-based Communions show us how personal identity is intertwined with, and shaped by larger forces.
““Bird of Passage” tries to put words to the themes of change and variability; that one is never the same person from one day to another” says lead singer Martin Rehof. Introducing the theme of self-understanding that’s at the center of Communions’ upcoming sophomore album Pure Fabrication, “Bird of Passage” also goes one layer deeper, showing how their individual identity—and ours—is embedded and intertwined within history and culture.
Rehof introduces a familiar metaphor on the first verse, singing “In all endeavors / It’s the architecture that survives / In history / People tend to recognize the statues / Not the slavery”. But Rehof continues with a slew of metaphors on the theme of identity and change before he lands on the soaring chorus: “I am nature’s bird of passage / I don’t remember / Who I really am”. In a sea of transforming culture, what is individual identity? As much as we proclaim our individuality, we are nothing other than “nature’s bird of passage”, being carried by the winds of history.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
spotify
apple
soundcloud
youtube
bandcamp
Few Danish bands have been so far around the block at such a young age as Communions.
In 2014, while still in highschool and still shaking dust from the rafters of Mayhem — Copenhagen’s famed underground venue — Communions released their debut EP Cobblestones. The release marked the beginning of a long and productive streak for the band, who followed it up with the 2015 Communions EP, the 2017 album Blue, a string of self-released singles and an EP, Flesh and Gore, Dream and Vapor, in 2019. Now Communions have joined Tambourhinoceros with a new, reshaped constellation.
Communions’ Rehof brothers — Martin (vocals and guitar) and Mads (Bass) — have decided to continue at the helm of the band after the departure of their long-time bandmates Jacob van Deurs Formann and Frederik Lind Köppen (although the two still feature in the forthcoming Communions recordings). Letting their brotherly musical connection take center stage, the Rehof brothers have assembled a new five piece constellation around themselves going forwards, adding even more depth to their indie rock.
Communions’s early work drew inspiration from the underground scene’s punk cynicism, evidenced by their lofi debut EP which was recorded — with amps blaring — straight onto a USB microphone. Communions’ next two EPs and debut album saw the band refine their craft of songwriting and production while riding a wave of international attention and festival performances. Their forthcoming music now represents another shift in the Communions aesthetic. Marked by sharp cultural criticism, self reflection, and artistic commentary of a grand scale, Communions’ new music takes the signature indie rock from the dark clubs of their youth and merges it with full-fleshed cerebral critique and symbolism.
*****
““Bird of Passage” tries to put words to the themes of change and variability; that one is never the same person from one day to another” says lead singer Martin Rehof. Introducing the theme of self-understanding that’s at the center of Communions’ upcoming sophomore album Pure Fabrication, “Bird of Passage” also goes one layer deeper, showing how their individual identity—and ours—is embedded and intertwined within history and culture.
Rehof introduces a familiar metaphor on the first verse, singing “In all endeavors / It’s the architecture that survives / In history / People tend to recognize the statues / Not the slavery”. But Rehof continues with a slew of metaphors on the theme of identity and change before he lands on the soaring chorus: “I am nature’s bird of passage / I don’t remember / Who I really am”. In a sea of transforming culture, what is individual identity? As much as we proclaim our individuality, we are nothing other than “nature’s bird of passage”, being carried by the winds of history.
Communions, "Birds of Passage", Indie Rock, Bedroom, Lo-fi Pop, Alternative Rock, Denmark, Brothers Rehof, Martin, Mads, second album, "Pure Fabrication"
BIRD OF PASSAGE
Long live the sacred years
That live on in every breath of air
There’s a voice inside of all of us
Singing prayers of the fates we’ve shared
We made irrational plans
And carried them out rationally
Moving ships over mountain sides
And our empires over seas
In all endeavors
It’s the architecture that survives
In history
People tend to recognize the statues
Not the slavery
I am nature’s bird of passage
I don’t remember
Who I really am
And like a sphinx
I’m born a prince
I make my kingdom everywhere
We’ve burned the candles at both ends
For a fair crack of the whip
With no solid ground to rest our heads upon
We slept through the eclipse
After a meaningless battle
The trenches, they still remain in place
We’ve solved the furniture
But the fog conquerors all of space
Within all corners of diversity
I’ve searched for unity
But my memory
Is just a tiny crack
Against cruel eternity
I am nature’s bird of passage
I don’t remember
Who I really am
And like a sphinx
I’m born a prince
I make my kingdom everywhere
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