Barry Can't Swim
Loner
Release Date: Jul 11, 2025
Genre(s): Electronic, Pop/Rock, Club/Dance
Record label: Ninja Tune
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Album Review: Loner by Barry Can't Swim
Excellent, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 4
The Scottish producer trades sun-soaked bliss for emotional introspection – without losing the big drops "Change" is the first word heard on Barry Can't Swim's new album, Loner. "There is nothing permanent except change," says an automated voice at the start of The Person You'd Like to Be. It's an apt opening for Scottish producer, DJ and musician Joshua Mainnie, whose rise over the past year has been anything but static.
Based on rating 4/5
On Loner, Barry Can't Swim builds on the foundations of When Will We Land? to create something more personal, expansive, and emotionally layered. Drawing from jazz, ambient, house, broken beat, and spoken word, he delivers a record that's danceable yet introspective, mirroring his varied approach to production. Opener The Person You'd Like To Be sets the tone and solidifies itself as a highlight of the album: eerie horns and sparse piano drift around a disembodied voice repeating, 'Change, there is nothing permanent except change'.
Opinion: Excellent
It's important for producers of electronic music to build a visual identity. Think of Kraftwerk's robotic minimalism, Autechre's cold, digital album art or Daft Punk's retro sci-fi costumes. These aesthetic embellishments are to help contextualise and frame the music. It's the same with an art gallery; the 'meaning' of the pieces doesn't have to be immediately apparent, the descriptions next to them can be as vital in illuminating the art as the works themselves.
'Loner'
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