Dark Bird Is Home

The songs of the album were recorded in various countries, studios, and barns, and are said to "carry a weather-worn quality, some dirt and some grit."[2] BJ Burton announced via his Instagram page that production on the album had begun in July 2014 and concluded in September 2014.[3][4] The album is said to be Matsson's most personal and direct piece of work, inspired by the death of a close family member and by the divorce from his wife, singer-songwriter Amanda Bergman.[5][6] A trailer for the album was released on February 10, 2015, with Matsson proclaiming that "this is not the end, this is fine".[7]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The A.V. Club	B−[10]
Consequence of Sound	B+[11]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[12]
Exclaim!	8/10[13]
The Guardian	[14]
Mojo	[15]
Paste	(8.5/10)[16]
PopMatters	8/10[17]
Pitchfork	6.7/10[18]
Q	[15]

Dark Bird Is Home received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[8]

The album debuted in the United States at No. 1 on Folk Albums, No. 8 on Top Rock Albums, and No. 67 on Billboard 200, with 8,000 sold in its first week.[19]

• Kristian Matsson – banjo, bass guitar, clarinet, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, alto horn, omnichord, pedal steel guitar, percussion, piano, synthesizer, tape machine, tom-tom drum, vocals, backup vocals
• Oskar Bond – piano
• BJ Burton – engineer, mixing, producer
• C.J. Camerieri – french horn, trumpet
• Bird Coulter – piano
• Dan Huiting – bass guitar
• Mike Lewis – bass guitar, piano, soprano saxophone, saxophone, synthesizer
• Huntley Miller – mastering
• Niclas Nordin – drums, percussion
• Mike Noyce – electric guitar, viola, violin, vocals, backup vocals
• Mats Winkvist – bass guitar
• Cameron Wittig – photography