Inside Barry Can’t Swim’s New Album Loner: A Feel-Good Summer Soundtrack
Barry Can’t Swim’s new album Loner isn’t just something you listen to – it’s something you feel. Across 12 tracks, the album leans into groove, texture, and soul. It adds cinematic chaos that’s both beautiful and disorienting in the best way. He made this album for late summer nights where you don’t know what’s next, but you’re completely in it. It is instrumental, emotional, fresh, and completely immersive from start to finish, like summer in slow motion. This summer, he set out to take Loner to two major festival stages, with upcoming performances at Lollapalooza and HARD Summer.
A Steady Rollout That Built the Story
Barry Can’t swim released seven out of the 12 tracks ahead of Loner’s full July 11 drop, including tracks like “Still Riding”, “Kimpton,” and “All My Friends.” Each one brought a different energy. Some were funky and light, others leaned more emotional/instrumental, built around deeper vocal chops or layered melodies that held more weight. Over the few months of rollout, these songs gave fans enough to hold onto without giving away the full story. When the final five songs arrived on the album, they pulled everything together; a true ending to something already in motion.
What Loner Really Feels Like
Loner opens with “The Person You’d Like To Be,” a collab with poet Séamus that’s drum-heavy and powerful. It sets the tone for everything that follows. Then “Different” comes in with chopped vocals, rhythmic energy, and a rising bassline that keeps the momentum going throughout.
Tracks like “Kimpton” featuring O’Flynn, “All My Friends,” and “About To Begin” sit in the middle of the record and carry this soulful, bouncy energy. They’re textured and built for the dance floor. “Still Riding,” one of Barry Can’t Swim’s favorite songs, leans into soft, smooth house energy. Being the first single of the album, this song was the first taste of what was to come.
The back half of Loner slows things down with more depth and emotion. “Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts,” “Machine Noise For A Quiet Daydream” featuring Séamus, and “Like It’s Part of the Dance” all feel warm, jazzy, and poetic. The final three tracks, “Childhood,” “Marriage,” and “Wandering Mt. Moon,” all pull things into a more introspective space. “Childhood” is the feel-good song, a funky, comforting one that hits that summer vibe. “Marriage” is the sunset drive moment, head out the window, hair flying, full of a laid-back, melodic kind of energy. Lastly, “Wandering Mt. Moon” feels like nature waking up; it’s quiet, layering, and Barry Can’t Swim said it’s meant to feel like “exploring a dark cave with only a ray of light”.
Why Loner Works So Well
Loner gives us a glimpse at that softer, groovier side of electronic music. It’s a full-circle album that connects groove with meaning, and sound with memory. Whether you catch it all together or as a solo song, it’s constantly drawing you in. It’s dance music that makes room to feel, and that’s exactly what makes it feel so alive.
