A Lot on My Crate

I first heard about this electronic Scottish producer and at the same time, entranced after listening to his track “Sonder”, from his debut album, When Will We Land? It was such a beautiful house cut with these lovely piano melodies, a nostalgic saxophone segment, and African vocals. It made the track breathe and is very lush. What Mr. Barry (Real name is Joshua Spence Mainnie. What a ruse. Am I right?) has a knack for, is to provide emotion along with atmosphere, usually an uplifting one. He has the capability to provide the good vibes, but it’s not the only thing he can provide with the power of EDM. There’s a statement in his sophomore album here, Loner, that if you observe the cover art, it’s a tad unsettling with the artist looking out of his room, reluctantly looking out of his room and this humanoid creature absolutely enveloped with prize ribbons. Is it that Barry is defensive against expectations and his achievements from outside forces? This house album being released with the great Ninja Tune label, is a statement that Barry Can’t Swim utilizes his talents to get his thoughts across with his art on the subject of critique of art and social pressure norms. Oh, and his music is pretty danceable, I must say.

We get hit with a synth that is constantly falling down and a hard drum pattern, in which it sounds haunting and anxiety inducing. It’s already so unconventional in a Barry Can’t Swim joint with this opening track (“Be the Person You’d Like to Be.”) It has this robotic, dystopian voice that sounds like the worst self-help book ever that gives you advice, but then pleads for help in the end. The falling synth carries over on the next track, “Different”, but It’s a banger house track with a revving, swelling bass. The synth sounds like an alarm that one must escape from whilst a choppy vocal snippet that says “different” just relentlessly invades your ears, Clockwork Orange style. But things take chill pill with “Kimpton”, with these African chants and marimbas that take your hand and fly away from that awful place. “About to Begin” goes into a funky trip. It’s acid techno that hypes up the room and is a very danceable moment. Another cool moment is “Still Riding” with Barry going back into his house with a strong melody on the keys and these very hooky vocals. Imagine these last two tracks mentioned has a purpose of waking up every morning and then getting hyped to carpe those diems. One of my favorite moments and probably the most bold Barry has undergone is this ambient piece “Machine Noise For a Quiet Daydream” along these spoken word passages by Séamus. It’s so beautiful and very gripping on how eccentric and supportive for the listener. Séamus wants you to just look around and just absorb everything with these vignette-like stories of his supposed life, it even gets hysterical at times with “walking of cats” and “fun fun fun”. It grows into house, but its spirituality is never lost. One foot forward goes into “Like It’s Part of the Dance” with these shimmering synths that makes it seem like you’re dancing on the cosmic river. And “Childhood” was a grower, since the piano and disco plunderphonic samples sound so familiar like the Avalanches. But it’s still a great feel good anthem to remind you about the beauty of life, cheesy as it may be. And the closer was very interesting. Pokémon fans would recognize the reference on “Wandering Mt. Moon.” It’s a region in the game from when you’re about to face the Elite Four, the end game bosses. Barry signifying this last track, is not the end, but the beginning to reach for greater heights with these epic somber strings and ambient layers of electronics. It’s telling you to get up and don’t give up. It’s a closer that seems so somber and it tells us more is on its way.

This album has some highs and has a concept to focus on. It being an electronic project is trickier when Barry is utilizing less lyrics than a usual studio album with vocals. Some tracks hit, and some don’t. Some seems lost in thought and even though I love the cinematic ending, there would be some that would think this album just ended abruptly or left a cliffhanger. Also, some tracks seem really derivative to the point of distracting such as “All My Friends.” They would hit hard at an EDM festival though.

Despite these grievances, this album gets two thumbs up from me. Barry Can’t Swim went a whole new different direction and was brave enough to go against the tide being very experimental and dynamic in mood and sound. Sounds that just fill the room. The titles of the songs give focus on what Mainnie is aiming for and the message he wants to achieve. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he mentioned this album was about the struggle between him as Joshua Mainnie and Barry the artist. Feels burnt out and his shyness is a barrier in social interactions. Using his alias as a survival mechanism when getting on stage is what got him through, since he hasn’t accepted who he was. It was tough to dissociate. But producing the album actually helped him “like therapy” according to Mainnie. It’s not Barry on the stage performing, but Josh. Here’s hoping Josh keeps going to make more amazing electronic projects and keep on swimming of course.

FAVORITE TRACKS: DIFFERENT, KIMPTON, ABOUT TO BEGIN, STILL RIDING, MACHINE NOISE FOR A QUIET DAYDREAM, LIKE IT’S PART OF THE DANCE, CHILDHOOD, WANDERING MT. MOON

LEAST FAVORITE: ALL MY FRIENDS

You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and his discography is also available for streaming.

https://barrycantswim.bandcamp.com/album/loner