Barry Can't Swim
is
Joshua Mainnie
, a London-based producer and musician originally from Edinburgh. His brand of house music is lush and tuneful, emphasizing melodies alongside laid-back grooves, with vocal samples and organic instrumentation being prominent elements. His tracks bring to mind artists like
Fred again..
or
Bonobo
in club mode, but with more of a fondness for rave pianos (just check "Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore" from 2022's
More Content
EP).
When Will We Land?
is his
Ninja Tune
-issued debut full-length, and it's a more intricately crafted, moodier statement than his earlier singles, focusing on stirring vocal samples and wistful arrangements. While he initially sought out other collaborators for the project, he ended up making all the music by himself, and much of the album feels grand and cinematic -- it's not hard to imagine him incorporating orchestral parts on a future effort.
opens with a title track centered around an existential spoken word sample, building up fluttering pianos into an emotional, percussive burst, with ghostly vocals wailing in the background. "Deadbeat Gospel" highlights a raw, lo-fi recording of a friend from university called
somedeadbeat
, setting his stream-of-consciousness poetry to a sprinting, trancey rhythm. "Sonder" (previously featured as the first track on
) bathes a gentle piano hook and gorgeous African vocals in a layer of vinyl crackle. "Sunsleeper" chops up vocal samples from Galician folk group
Aliboria
, resulting in the album's most purely gleeful moment, while
Lapsley
contributes dusky vocals to "Woman," which comes closer to
ODESZA
's territory. The crisp drums, dramatic strings, and yearning vocal samples of "I Won't Let You Down" recall some of
Moby
's more soundtrack-ready songs. "Always Get Through to You" is soulful disco-house with choral vocals and handclaps, and "Tell Me What You Need" unexpectedly and successfully dips into smooth '80s electro-pop, intriguingly filled with echoing bird calls.
Mainnie
lets loose with "Dance of the Crab," an ecstatic samba-influenced track sampling Brazil's
Trio Ternura
.
's knack for detailed arrangements and passionate vocal samples makes for a creative, accomplished debut album. ~ Paul Simpson