In early 2023, Bartees Unusual discovered himself at a Grammys afterparty within the Chateau Marmont with Taylor Swift. He’d been working with Jack Antonoff, whom he’d met the earlier yr at All Issues Go pageant in Washington, D.C. “It was fairly random,” the rising singer-songwriter tells NME with fun by way of Zoom. “I used to be in line to get some meals and I heard somebody go, ‘Bartees! Bartees Unusual!’”
He circled to see he was being addressed by none aside from Antonoff, A-list producer and pal to the celebrities, who declared himself a fan of Unusual’s earlier two albums, ‘Reside Without end’ (2020) and ‘Farm To Desk’ (2022). Antonoff even knew concerning the early hardcore bands Unusual had carried out with as a youthful artist. “I used to be like, ‘Woah, woah, woah… Are you making enjoyable of me proper now?’”
On the contrary, they bonded over hardcore bands (Swift’s favorite producer is a Glassjaw fan, it seems) and Antonoff quickly invited Unusual over to his home in New York. Removed from being starstruck, Bartees requested his new pal for recommendation on the report he’d virtually completed. “He beloved it. He was like, ‘You could possibly put this out as it’s. Or we may simply do another layer. Let’s return in on 4 or 5 [tracks] and see if we are able to simply make it hit more durable.”
That album, ‘Horror’ – launched on Valentine’s Day, no much less – is a kaleidoscopic, genre-spanning assortment that speaks to Unusual’s love of indie, hip-hop, punk and every little thing in between. We’re speaking a couple of man who has cited each 50 Cent’s ‘Get Wealthy Or Die Tryin’’ and Bloc Celebration’s ‘Silent Alarm’ as key influences. It’s little surprise that Unusual discovered a kindred spirit within the equally eclectic Jack Antonoff, who invited him to look on his band Bleachers’ self-titled 2024 album.
When Antonoff picked up Producer of the Yr, Non-Classical at the 2023 Grammy Awards (his second of three consecutive wins), Bartees naturally got here alongside to the afterparty at Los Angeles’ most legendary hangout. The 36-year-old comes over a bit bashful once we first grill him on the do: “Dude, it was loopy. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say everybody [who was there]. I don’t know the way that even works! I simply know I used to be like, ‘I’m a pig in shit proper now. This can be a blast! I can’t consider I’m seeing this!’”
Weirdly, Unusual’s display screen freezes the second we ask if Swift was in attendance. Both he’s having us on in order that he doesn’t must reply the query, or Taylor’s energy actually does know no bounds. Ultimately, he admits that the pop celebrity was certainly on the shindig: “She’s super-nice. The lifetime of the occasion!”
In just some years, then, Unusual has risen from the New York underground to partying with essentially the most well-known lady on this planet. It makes him really feel like he’s taking a visit The Magic Faculty Bus, out visiting outlandish locations: “I get to journey by means of this wild world… After which I’m going dwelling and I’m like, ‘Wow! Loopy!’”
Bartees Cox Jr. was born in Ipswich, East Anglia, earlier than shifting overseas when he was “most likely eight, 9 – someplace in there”. It’s because his father was within the army, which meant Bartees and his siblings had a slightly transient childhood, although the Coxes did ultimately settle in Mustang, Oklahoma. His mom was a profitable opera singer, performing in Europe and America, earlier than she pursued a profession in schooling to offer singing classes on the College of Oklahoma.
Her musicality clearly rubbed off on Bartees, who first courted indie success with ‘Say Goodbye To Fairly Boy’, a covers EP of songs by the Nationwide. It was launched by Brassland, the indie label co-founded by the band’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner. There was a little bit of careerism within the alternative of fabric, he admits: “I didn’t not give it some thought. I used to be strategic and impressive, and in addition actually wished to make that factor. I assumed it might be cool. You realize, it labored.”
Buoyed by the band’s heat reception to the report, he adopted up with ‘Reside Without end’, on which he mixed anthemic indie guitar, downbeat electro and extra. 4AD, dwelling to the likes of Large Thief and Future Islands, in addition to The Nationwide, got here a-knocking for ‘Farm to Desk’, which NME dubbed as the most effective albums of 2022. Tastemakers’ acclaim may need supersized his profession, but additionally created strain that he hadn’t totally anticipated.
“There’s all these folks I’ve gotta handle. I must handle myself, however there’s no time for that. There by no means appears to be sufficient time… and I’m gonna throw up,” says Unusual. This sense of duty coincided with a hearty existential disaster – therefore the album’s title. “As I bought deeper within the music, it turned this story about myself, getting older and realising that at sure factors in your life you to must face these fears you’ll have – whether or not they’re about your self or your state of affairs or no matter – to be able to develop past these issues and the perfect model of who you might be.”
Opener ‘Too A lot’, with its nostalgically fuzzy, ‘90s-style guitar, sees Unusual give himself a great speaking to as he celebrates his multiplicity: “It’s such as you’re too tough to carry / Generally you’re heaven to the touch”. The clubby ‘Lovers’ captures each the enjoyment and blind panic of a brand new relationship, whereas the comfortable, acoustic-led ‘Sober’ sums up the temptation to drink away the uncooked actuality of life. Bartees’ killer blow, although, is ‘Baltimore’, a keening nation ode to his adopted hometown, which begins with the devastating line: “Once I take into consideration locations I may reside / I ponder if one’s adequate to lift a couple of Black youngsters.”
Earlier than pursuing a profession in music, Unusual was a press secretary for the Obama administration. He’s been horrified by Trump’s return to energy and the present political state of affairs within the US: “Eight years in the past, I may need been like, ‘OK, everybody, simply hunker down and construct and organise.’ However it is a little totally different. Trump not solely is vindictive however is, admittedly, fairly evil.”
Some recommended Trump was first elected, partially, resulting from a racist backlash in opposition to Obama, the primary Black President within the White Home. May that designate Donald’s second Presidency, too? Unusual’s response is instant: “Hell yeah. And it’s identical to the way it’s all the time been: backlashes in opposition to Black success or a win for minorities, in America, are all the time excessive.”
“They don’t simply cling you: they lower off your ft they usually eat you,” he continues. “That’s what’s occurring now. They don’t simply wanna beat you; they wanna eradicate you. And that’s how it’s for trans folks, immigrants, girls and Black folks right here. They don’t combat truthful. By any means essential, they’re gonna get their method. It’s a loopy time.”
It’s much more astonishing, then, that in opposition to this backdrop Bartees has not solely confronted his personal fears, however discovered himself knocking on the door of the mainstream along with his boldest assertion but. Unusual days certainly.
Bartees Unusual’s new album ‘Horror’ is out now by way of 4AD.
