VIDEO | The Mynabirds — ‘What We Gained In The Fire’

The Mynabirds is the project of one Laura Burhenn, formerly one half of Saddle Creek duo Georgie James (who split in 2008) and purveyor of several independent releases under her own name before that. Saddle Creek released her debut album as The Mynabirds, What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood, in June this year, largely under the radar.

This lovely new video for key track ‘What We Gained In The Fire’ is deeply personal to Laura as it features 8mm home movies of her family, lain forgotten in a basement for years. Director Rob Walters cut together new footage of Laura with these old clips to create a moving tribute to the past.

“Here was this entire family history I’d never seen: people I’d heard about but never knew, my great-grandparents in black and white, my grandparents as young lovers, my dad and his brother as babies — turning into young men before the camera’s eye. I was getting a window into this story I’d only imagined,” Laura recently told Spinner.

“To me, the most poignant part of the story is that my dad’s brother, who is featured in the family footage, committed suicide when I was just a baby,” she continues. “I never knew him, but here I am now, looking out from this reflective winter season (when the air is clearer and the sky isn’t cluttered with a thatch of leaves), through these filmed records, trying to find him. I think we all have similar experiences..”

Tagged laura burhenn, the mynabirds, what we lose in the fire we gain in the flood