* = Vinyl only track
Washington DC resident Bartees Leon Cox Jr. aka Bartees
Strange, announces his new album and 4AD debut, ‘Farm To
Table’, which also includes recent single ‘Heavy Heart’. Where
his 2020 debut record, ‘Live Forever’, introduced the
experiences and places that shaped Bartees (Flagey Brussels,
Mustang Oklahoma), ‘Farm To Table’ zeros in on the people -
specifically his family - and those closest to him on his journey
so far.
With his career firmly on the ascent, ‘Farm To Table’ examines
Bartees’ constantly shapeshifting relationship with life post-‘Live
Forever’. It also speaks to a deeper lore that says, don’t forget
where you came from, and this album is why. Always
remembering where he came from, across 10 songs Bartees is
celebrating the past, moving towards the future, and fully
appreciating the present.
An unapologetic and braggadocious indie-trap banger, new
single ‘Cosigns’ celebrates Bartees’ peers, collaborators and
friends; name-checking the likes of Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers,
Courtney Barnett and Lucy Dacus, through a genre-defying
outpouring somewhere between swaggering hip-hop and
euphoric alt rock. The song ends on a poem he wrote in his
early 20s, “I don’t know how to be full, it’s the hardest to know, I
keep consuming I can’t give it up, It’s never enough.” ‘Cosigns’
is also a moment for Bartees to acknowledge himself, giving
himself credence and unashamedly basking in that glow. Its
accompanying official video was directed by Pooneh Ghana.
Born in Ipswich, England, to a military father and opera-singer
mother, Bartees had a peripatetic early childhood before
eventually settling in Mustang, Oklahoma. Later, Bartees cut his
teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington DC and Brooklyn
whilst working in the Barack Obama administration and
(eventually) the environmental movement. Since charting a path
as a solo artist, Bartees Strange has released two records in
quick succession: an EP reimagining songs by The National
(‘Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy’, 2020) and his debut album
proper, ‘Live Forever’.