Dan Barrett, who has put out records as a member of Have A Nice Life and as Giles Corey, is returning with a new album from his solo electronic project Black Wing in December. The new album, No Moon, was created during the last six months of lockdown, with Barrett saying:
“Quarantine was profoundly isolating. With writing this record, more than anything I just wanted to prove to myself that I could make something out of it. That ended up being a lot of songs about feeling isolated, a lot of ‘trapped in my own head’ moments. I think that was a lot of people’s experience as well.”
That’s exactly where we find him on new single “Is This Real Life, Jesus Christ” – right in the middle of an existential crisis caused by the shithole that is today. In a year that has continually confounded, sometimes there is nothing more profound to say, and exclaiming “is this real life?!” is all you can do – I would hazard a bet that the majority of us have said or thought that multiple times recently. On the new track, Black Wing sets this unifying question against a backdrop of carefully structured drum machines and electronic chords, building it from a throwaway thought into a colossal exclamation that stands like a monument to the year that we’re living through.
Black Wing’s new album No Moon comes out through The Flenser on December 11. You can find Black Wing on Facebook, and Dan Barrett is on Twitter and Instagram.
