Barbarossa
The solo project of British multi-instrumentalist James Mathé, Barbarossa emerged in the latter half of the 2000s with a thoughtful amalgam of minimalist folk, R&B, and electronic-influenced pop. Initially associated with Scotland's Fence Collective, he later signed with Memphis Industries, on which he released albums like 2013's richly textured Bloodlines and 2015's more ambient Imager. Also known for his work as a collaborator, Mathé has worked frequently with Swedish singer/songwriter José González and toured as a member of Junip, POLICA, and This Is the Kit. His songs have been used in prominent television series like Elementary, and How I Met Your Mother. Barbarossa returned in 2021 with the sparse, synth-driven Love Here Listen, produced by James Greenwood of Ghost Culture.
A native of London, Mathé's interest in songwriting dates back to childhood when he would work out original melodies on the piano. He first appeared under the Barbarossa name in 2005, releasing the mini-album Sea Like Blood as part of the Fence Collective Picket Fences series. More folk-driven than his later work, Mathé began to experiment with more electronic and R&B textures on his full-length debut, Chemical Campfires, which Fence released two years later. By the early part of the next decade he'd become involved as a collaborator with José González, playing in both his backing band and González's Junip project. These collaborations, combined with Mathé's own varied musical experiences, inspired the intimate, spare compositions on his second album, Bloodlines, which was released by Memphis Industries in 2013.
His dreamy follow-up, Imager, arrived two years later in early 2015, and featured a guest performance from González. Over the next few years, Mathé stayed active touring with González and relocating to the coastal town of Margate, in Kent, where he also became a father for the first time. In 2018, he returned with his third Barbarossa album, Lier, recorded in Margate with producer James Greenwood (aka Ghost Culture) and featuring percussion from Sweden's Joel Wästberg. In Greenwood, Mathé found an especially sympathetic creative partner and the two continued working together, first on a stripped-down 2019 reworking of earlier Barbarossa tracks called the tidal pool tapes, then again on the 2021 studio album Love Here Listen. For the latter, the duo worked with an intentionally limited palette of vintage synthesizers to create a spare and engaging electronic pop set.
© Timothy Monger & Matt Collar /TiVo
Ähnliche Künstler
-
Imager
Electronic - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 11.05.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lier
Electronic - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 30.03.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
the tidal pool tapes
Electronic - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 15.03.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Load
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 16.04.2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Bloodlines
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 04.08.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Here Listen
Electronic - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 05.03.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hide
Electronic - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 17.02.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sea of Blood
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 17.04.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chemical Campfires
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 18.02.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elevator
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Memphis Industries am 16.06.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chemical Campfires
Country - Erschienen bei Barbarossa am 18.02.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delicate
Electronic - Erschienen bei Strange Matter Electronics am 12.09.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Ils n'ont pas passé
Rock - Erschienen bei Ad Noctem Records am 31.05.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Für die echten Heads
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei Artistfy Music am 16.03.2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Operation Barbarossa
Rock - Erschienen bei Invincible records - defox records am 02.12.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Temporality
Electronic - Erschienen bei Barbarossa UG Records am 19.04.2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nightshift
MyCliff, Barbarossa, Gigi Singer
Pop - Erschienen bei Artistfy Music am 18.04.2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo