Horror
Bartees Strange’s third album finds the Washington, D.C. singer-songwriter stretching his sonic limbs further than ever before—an achievement, to be sure, since Strange’s first two records (2020’s *Live Forever* and 2022’s critical breakthrough *Farm to Table*) cemented his ability to effortlessly hop between anthemic rock, dusky blues, and rap cadences within just a few minutes. With a slightly darker sound befitting its namesake, *Horror* adds a few impressive guises to Strange’s genre menagerie: There’s the explicitly Fleetwood Mac-esque jangle of “Sober,” the melancholic trip-hop skitter of “Doomsday Buttercup,” and the lucious house thump of “Lovers,” which might count as Strange’s starkest left turn to date. Across these 12 tracks, Strange also fine-tunes his winning formula of countrified balladry and propulsive riffs, both of which are given a big-ticket pop spit-shine courtesy of contributions from studio wizards Yves and Lawrence Rothman as well as the ever-ubiquitous Jack Antonoff. Don’t mistake big names for unnecessary flashiness, though: *Horror* retains the down-to-earth POV that’s made Strange an increasingly powerful presence in indie, even as his ambitions grow.
Bartees Strange has never sounded better, with crisp vocal production and genuinely emotional deliveries throughout Horror.
Exploring the concept of fear, the third album from Bartees Strange is a sonic odyssey.
Bartees Strange is galvanized. The English-American, born in Ipswich, bred in Oklahoma and now based in Washington D.C - partially explaining the
With producer-to-the-stars Jack Antonoff on board, the anarchic American rocker offers glimpses of inspiration but fails to follow through
Fear may have inspired Bartees Strange's new LP, but the songs on Horror are some of his best to date. He is one of the key artists of this decade.
Horror by Bartees Strange album review by Greg Walker for Northern Transmissions. The singer/songwriter's LP drops on February 14th via 4AD