Barbarossa – Imager
3/5
James Mathé, a.k.a. Barbarossa, originally rooted his music in folk fashion, playing alongside the likes of Jose Gonzalez and Johnny Flynn. Instead, the London-based musician has gradually evolved into an experimental electronic musician, incorporating layers of artificial textures into his new sound. His latest work, Imager, is an alternating course of stimulating and tranquilizing patterns, but the reverberating, bewitching vocal style of Mathé turns the minimalist production style into a deeper, passionate collection.
Mixing and matching of percussive tones compose the lingering foundation for the album with the opening title track “Imager” leading the way. While the singer-songwriter loans his soft, alluring voice at the forefront, the dimensional supporting features of the track become subtle hooks. Similarly, the duet with friend José Gonzalez on “Hello” features the two artists creating a fluid wall of sound, while tones bounce across the soundscape.
The mellow, hesitant ambience of the album holds steady with tracks like “Solid Soul”, “Dark Hopes”, and “Muted”, situating themselves in between heavier, more stimulating tracks.
Imager, although slow at parts, finds a way to stay captivating with tracks such as the psychedelic, trance-inducing “Nevada”, the chill-pop style “Silent Island”, or most noticeably, the surprisingly fun dream-pop track “Human Feel”.
James Mathé pulls together his intimate and passionate song writing talents and combines them with a creative, new medium of electronic textures and tones. Imager is an engaging and magnetic work from the British musician, directing himself in an exciting and relevant direction. Stream the full album via Memphis Industries.
