It’s been almost two years since we waxed poetic on a rising face in electronic music, Barry Can’t Swim, checking in on a milestone achievement with his debut, When Will We Land. For this writer in particular, it was witnessing a tangible shift in just over a year from a well-attended yet charming turnout in Brooklyn to a packed house at Terminal 5 (without a full-length release in the interim, mind you) that alerted us the UK artist may be onto something big. Now circling back for Loner, the days of Barry Can’t Swim as a niche proposition are well behind him.
Upon pressing play, the first two songs are a strong signal of the more aggressive strings pulling this record, getting a bit headier and dark with the samples that define “The Person You’d Like To Be” and pushing into a grime lane for “Different.” As if to remind that the same old Barry is still intact inside of these new developments, “Kimpton” could easily register as a cut from When Will We Land with signature twinkling synths, a foreign language sample, and heartful keys.
Barry Can’t Swim Fully Stamps Signature Sound With “Loner”
Before sinking back into the revelrous home base, we get “About To Begin,” driven forward by high-octane synths and driving percussion, founded on the titular vocal sample that constantly leaves the listener in that waiting for the drop state. That same propulsive quality continues into “Still Riding,” but we begin to see teases of the trademark Barry Can’t Swim sound, as chipper keys twinkle in the background of an otherwise techno-tinged composition. By the time “Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts” touches down, we’ve fully completed that gradient treatment, and an undeniable feeling of nostalgia has taken root.
Even within the bounds of the more familiar work at play with Loner, Barry Can’t Swim plays around the margins enough to keep things intriguing. It’s particularly a more progressive, psychedelic quality that the producer finds success with here, using hi-pass filters for an underwater excursion on “Marriage” that compares favorably to the standard-setting work of countryman Jamie xx, particularly clocking in rather close to “Obvs” off the seminal In Colour.
While for some other artists, relying on the hits or not stepping too far out from a signature sound could be a negative, the fact that Barry Can’t Swim is rather earlier into his mainstream notoriety makes Loner a different equation. Additionally, while there are comparison points to the aesthetic the Edinburgh native develops is one that’s uniquely his own for its reliance on warm textures and a mix of acoustic and digital components. It’s all the more heartwarming that what he majors in is beginning to resonate with so many, and with the way things are going, the crowds will almost certainly be bigger once chapter three arrives.
Find Loner and all of the Barry Can’t Swim catalog wherever you stream your music.
