Medium Build, 'comeonback'

"I've been writing a bunch of love songs to friends," says Nick Carpenter, the Anchorage, Alaska, artist who performs as Medium Build. The indie rocker's music is marked by his compassionate, conversational lyricism and grounded, grungy sound – and his latest single, "comeonback," is no exception. The song is about committing to the messy and rewarding work that accompanies long-term relationships. "It's never too late to come on back," Carpenter pleads, voice thick with desperation on the track. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't take you back?"

The song's one-shot music video, directed by Carpenter, follows him through Anchorage restaurant Club Paris: He greets a sleepy dog at the back door, passes cooks in the kitchen, throws back a shot with the bartender, shares a bite with a kid in a booth and so on. Each acquaintance seems to know him in a familial way that makes performative greetings unnecessary; they say hello and goodbye with the comforting knowledge that he'll return. "The bar in the video is a character — a living, breathing, flawed thing," says Carpenter in a statement, "Just like me and my friendships."

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