Nothing Left Unsaid

If you're across The Amity Affliction, then you've probably read Joel Birch's open letter by now, penned to clarify the lyrical content on Don't Lean On Me, the second single pulled from the band's new record, Let The Ocean Take Me.

But this wasn't simply an impersonal email; this was Brian Fallon, “every word handwritten” type shit, scrawled in ink on notepad pages before being torn out, scanned and uploaded for the world to see. It's a letter that talks about the influx of self-harm and suicide messages Birch has received since the release of 2012 record Chasing Ghosts, and the fact that – although suffering from depression and anxiety himself – he can only offer empathy, not real solutions.

The letter is raw, uncensored, heartfelt, and it adds so much more gravitas to lyrics like “Don't count on me/'Cause I am drowning/Please don't drown with me.” It's a topic that Birch has wanted to discuss for a while now, while still keeping the avenue of communication open between the band and their fans.

“Sometimes the messages I get, they really are too much for me to deal with, so I really wanted to address it finally and have my say, because it's obviously inappropriate at the same token for me to write back and say, 'Oi man, don't tell me that,'” he reasons. “I put myself out there in our lyrics, so it obviously comes with the territory, but I feel like there should still be some restraint on people's behalves when they're talking to someone who's obviously dealing with the same shit as they are.

“I had people telling me they were going to kill themselves then and there that night,” he reveals. “In one instance I had a guy tell me that and I frantically went through his Facebook profile for family and friends, and sent them all the same message, and then got an abusive message from him the next day saying, 'Fuck you, thanks very much, my girlfriend left me because of what you said.' And I'm like, 'Well, what am I meant to do? I'm trying to help, I'm trying to make sure you don't kill yourself and now you're mad at me – what's the deal? I do not understand the protocol for this; don't tell me if you don't want me to help.' He was in America and I was like, 'Fuck man, I can't fly there and meet with you and have a talk, I can't do anything.'”

Considering the initial shitstorm from uneducated individuals when the cover art for Chasing Ghosts was first released – a graphic shot taken from the neck down of a young man hanging from a tree – this open letter was also a logical way to rub out any more misconceptions early in proceedings.

“The funny thing about that [Chasing Ghosts cover] is none of us gave a shit about what people were saying, because obviously for anyone that spends more than the five seconds it took them to look at the cover looking into our band, they'd know that our messages are strong, anti-suicide messages,” says Birch. “We all thought that was just fucking stupid, but that's how it goes.

“[With Don't Lean On Me], I didn't want to offend people and I didn't want them to take it the wrong way, but it seems like even before the letter came out everyone was really liking it... I wrote all these lyrics and I thought they were much more negative than they're coming across which is cool – an unexpected victory. I've had people message me and say, 'Look, this doesn't speak to me on an emotional level, but it's cool that you've done it,' and that's pretty fucking awesome. It's been a really good, really positive response, so I'm really happy that I did it.”

Another traumatic event Let The Ocean Take Me touches on is a seizure Birch suffered while The Amity Affliction were touring America last year as part of Warped Tour. The 32-year-old was found unconscious backstage on the Pittsburgh date – not breathing, no pulse – an almost fatal situation that was related to acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The opening cut on the new album talks about the seizure and his feelings following it, reflective times where he realised the pain he was causing flowed further than his own soul.

“I was extremely anxious – at the start of Warped I couldn't even go and get my own food from catering without having a meltdown and bursting into tears,” he remembers. “I don't know if that's got anything to do with it, but I say just a lack of restraint on my part is what led me to that. [But] it was definitely a wake-up call; I don't think I'll go as mental as I did on Warped ever again. Just knowing what I've got back here at home and knowing what I've got in the band and the position I'm in, I'm very lucky and very fortunate. To throw it all away just to party seems pretty fucking pointless to me.”

After recording Chasing Ghosts and 2010 breakthrough Youngbloods Stateside, The Amity Affliction kept things local this time around, settling into guitarist Troy Brady's Evergreen Studios in Brisbane to work at their own pace.

“We got sick of going over there to be honest,” Birch says of recording in America. “Especially for Ryan [Burt – drums] and myself – I'm not needed until the last two weeks, and Ryan literally takes three days to do the whole album. It was just so much easier doing it here, and I'm pretty sure [we'll] just try and do it in Australia from now on, it's just such a better experience.

“For Youngbloods and Chasing Ghosts, I think it was very important that we [went to the States],” he adds, “but now that we've matured a lot more in a recording sense I think that whole notion's sort of out the window, it doesn't really matter anymore, I don't think, where we record. That's a nice thing to think about, not being tied to a certain idea of needing to go anywhere.”

And in keeping with the theme of familiarity, the band called on the services of producer Will Putney (Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder), who, although having worked with the five-piece previously, was this time overseeing the entire operation instead of acting as the mop-and-bucket guy called in to clean up the mess.

“He's our age, and he works on current music, so all his ideas were current, they weren't recycled from the '90s or anything like that,” Birch says. “We've worked with him on Youngbloods, Chasing Ghosts, but it was good to have him come in and just do the whole thing this time around instead of... like last record we said, 'Hey, you've got ten days and we need this fixed, please help.' It really was an emergency call-out, we were like, 'Can you fucking fix this? It sounds like shit.'”

The creative process is pretty much the same for Birch every time – writing completely independent to everyone before starting one email chain with bassist/clean vocalist Ahren Stringer to go back and forwards with lyrics. But rather than going with his first drafts this time around, the screamer let Putney into his world to break down his verses. “He pointed out all the weak parts of the song, like, 'You can do better than that, you can do better than that,' Birch says. “Then he made me sometimes present him with up to four alternatives, and he'd pick the strongest part.”

Stringer, meanwhile, managed to take those lyrics and capture the emotions instrumentally, the tension, heartbreak and triumph heard not only in the words, but the notes, too. “He just knows what's going to work where, and credit to him, he put all the lyrics to the songs perfectly – they fit really well.”

The screamer also admits that getting touring guitarist and former Confession member Dan Brown involved full-time was critical to the success of the album. “I never really have anything to do with them [when they're songwriting], but Dan, Ahren and Troy really worked well together on this record, and I think Dan has been an invaluable addition,” comments Birch. “Things are looking up.”

Put simply – the band didn't compromise. Every element of Let The Ocean Take Me works cohesively and effectively, with the end result arguably The Amity Affliction's finest hour. “It's clichéd, but I think we're growing as a band and getting better at what we do,” Birch levels, “which after ten years, is what you want to be doing.”