Barrie-James is a Scottish singer-songwriter who has had an illustrious yet rather unpredictable career in the music industry over recent years. From touring the globe with multi-instrumentalist group Kassidy to collaborating with Lana Del Rey during his time in Los Angeles, Barrie-James is clearly a musician who has encountered countless unique opportunities in the music business and tackled them head on. Having released two singles and an EP under the stage name ‘Nightmare Boy’ in 2015, Barrie-James released his debut full-length album ‘Cold Coffee’ under his own name in 2016 which harnessed a sense of thought-provoking, self-examination throughout.
Even through this short observation of Barrie-James’ work so far, it’s fair to say that identifying with one style and solely sticking to that style is not part of Barrie-James’ ethos as an artist. It may also be fair to say that Barrie-James’ new single could prosper amalgams of distinctive musical elements, previously unheard in his recorded work, judging by his seemingly capricious, creative mindset. This conception is indeed fitting towards defining the sound dimensions of Barrie-James’ latest single ‘Free Like a Bird’ as Tenement TV recently described the track title itself as, “an inherently apt title for a track that is unconstrained by any preconceived expectations”.
Comparisons to a wide range of different artists from past and present spring to mind throughout ‘Free Like a Bird’ for various reasons. Seminal unconventional figures of psychedelic in the 60’s such as Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, 13th Floor Elevators and even Syd Barrett have evidently influenced the song’s psychedelic, erratic feel with various stop-start guitar rhythms flowing throughout to create a feeling of unfamiliarity that is captivating from the offset. This combined with poignant lyrics such as, “I was seeing demons… everybody said I was losing my mind” which arguably relate to Barrie-James’ struggles in his own life, bestow the song with a tender touch encapsulating, again, the appropriateness of the song’s title which suggests Barrie-James’ emancipation from personal struggles whilst also noting coherent interludes of introspective bouts of inner turmoil bolstered by guitars and the frequent saxophone line.
More modern artists such as Father John Misty and Jeff Buckley also have a part to play in detailing the tracks appealing characteristics. Buckley’s track ‘Grace’, in particular, is a great comparative example to relate ‘Free Like a Bird’ to as the song’s unusual chord structure, intermittent guitar-centred chorus parts - which feel invigorated in ‘Free Like a Bird’ - and a personal, emotive vocal performance all blend together majestically to create a track which Buckley happened to use for the title to his most distinguished album released in 1994. These three specific elements to Buckley’s track are visible in ‘Free Like a Bird’ through James’ own unique means with other present-day artists such as Father John Misty a noteworthy artist who follows a similar musical aesthetic in much of his work.
In all, ‘Free Like a Bird’ captures fusions of psychedelia, grunge and alt-rock in correlation with a self-examining lyrical performance to deliver a product that distinctively stirs curiosity with every listen.
The track is taken from Barrie-James’ forthcoming album ‘Psychedelic Soup’ which will be released in 2019 and can be pre-ordered here.
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