Bartees Strange on His Fear-Fueled Album 'Horror'

Bartees’ first album, Live Forever, dropped in 2020, followed by his second, Farm to Table. Life experience and new direction can be heard in the sonic shifts between those projects and where Bartees is creatively, now. “I feel like this record is the first record I've made where I feel like it represents where I am right now lyrically and sonically,” he says. “It's my best production, it's my best writing, and it's things I've learned since Live Forever and Farm to Table. Live Forever was written over the course of my whole life. When it came out I found myself singing songs I'd written from college — feelings I had in my early 20s. Horror is me today. I think that's why I love it. it feels like myself: big, fast and ugly."

Below, Bartees talks to PAPER about Horror, joining forces with producer Jack Antonoff and moving fast through fear.

Why did you decide “horror” or fear was something you wanted to focus on creatively?

Well, I love scary movies, but also, it's something that's been a big part of my life. Fear of not living up to expectations, fear of being a bad friend, fear of not finding a place I fit [into in] the world. These sound like things that are soft fears, but in reality, they can become the air you breathe and the food you eat. It can become all encapsulating. So this album focuses on that: how frenetic and dynamic that can be. And ultimately how facing them feels.

What was it like to work with Jack Antonoff on this album?

Jack and I met at a festival and became fast friends. He invited me to his house and we shared music. He was working on his album at the time, too which I got to work on as well. I have a lot of love for Jack. Extremely gifted and hardworking. I rarely meet people who are both of those things. Humble and brilliant. I can see why people have so many strong feelings for him, he's so good, and so kind. I love that fool. We connected naturally. Felt like being in a middle school cafeteria and realizing you and another kid both like pogs.

You called your track “Too Much” the “sonic thesis” of the album. How and in what way?

It's big and fast and ugly, like a ballet dancer who doesn't know how to dance. It is just what it is, sonically. It was also the first song I wrote for this album, and when I heard it, I knew it would be the first track. It's a song that has three big swings, each swing is further built out in the album. I felt like, if a listener can survive this, then they'll be fine, they'll like the rest.

Your single “Wants, Needs” is out today. What was the inspiration behind it and how did it come to be?

I wrote this in Vermont on a recording trip. I was listening to a lot of King of Limbs. I fell in love with the drums. I wanted to make something that really screamed. I also wanted to talk frankly about something that keeps me up at night, which is the ultimate need for fans if I want to sustain a career in music. I'm really bad at social media it's something that feels so foreign and tough. This song is me coming to grips with this realization that if I'm going to be doing this for as long as I'd like I'm going to need to show more of myself to people. Because I don't want my old job and I want this job. I like making music for a living and to do it I want and need more fans.

What do you hope fans feel when they hear Horror?

I made this record as a way to reach out to people who also move through life managing their fears and anxieties, mainly so they could hear this album and say, "Oh wow, he's afraid of the same things I am." It's like watching a horror movie at the theater. It's scary when you're alone, but when you watch it with a bunch of people, it can become fun, almost a comedy. I would love for people to hear this record and identify with the reality of how hard it is to face oneself and one's fears and also to know that everyone in the world is doing the same. We're all scared and we're all figuring it out.

Photos courtesy of Bartees Strange