Imager

Barbarossa, the nom de plume of Londoner James Mathé, follows up his 2013 album Bloodlines with Imager, out 11th May on Memphis Industries. Imager is a cerebral, slow-burning album, tinged with melancholy and an alluring humanism. Mathé’s musical journey started with folk-tinged balladry that saw him become part of the Fence Collective, and subsequently a band member for the likes of José González, Johnny Flynn and Junip. With Bloodlines, however, Mathé started to infuse his song writing with electronic flourishes, and now with Imager, he has completed his transformation into a fully fledged electronic soul pioneer. Working with co-producer Ash Workman (Metronomy, Summer Camp) Mathé builds on the foundations provided by his organic approach to songwriting, to build elegiac electronic anthems that are filled with a simple, poignant immediacy.