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“Charlie Barnes does whatever he wants to do, and has a lot of fun doing it. Charlie Barnes is not cool.”
Despite this, his own humble opinion of his music, it is actually dead cool. Part electronica, part symphonic balladeering, but held together by a voice so powerful it'll leave you speechless, his sound is eclectic, to say the least. On the record, his voice sits in the mix astride a wash of strings and a pulsing, electronic heart. Actually, soars might be a better word, because it is that voice which has set him apart- oft compared to Buckley, Bellamy, and Yorke it really is an instrument in itself. Live he's a completely different proposition- a one-man band relying on beatboxing and looping, like a “rave in outer space” as I wrote after first seeing him.
When discussing Charlie's music, the idea of 'ballads' probably gives the wrong impression- his are darker, more substantial. Alongside love songs like 'Degas Dancer' are songs like 'Final Call'- a song conspicuously about George Monbiot's book on climate change, Heat; “Monbiot’s stuff has always had a big influence on my writing, [as well as] Mark Z. Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves’ [a book I can attest to being both bewildering and a work of genius, but I digress].” One of his more easily recognisable cuts, 'Oradour' is about a village destroyed by the Nazis, left ruined by de Gaulle after the war as a memorial. In amongst the skeletal imagery of broken sewing machines, a moving point is made about man's inhumanity to man.
In spite of this, his live shows are essential and vibrant, nervous jokes and a clear love of playing balancing out the dark subject matter. “There’s no point in trying to fully re-create what you’ve done on an album onstage, because you can’t”- the majority of the strings are gone, in favour of a more stripped down sound- simple piano lines, vocoders and looping (where necessary) are the order of the day.
Now, after the low-key success of his No Offenkk EP, he's releasing a full-length, Geekk, on the 30th of May, this time with a band behind him. As he explained, “two years...of wandering the North-West with only myself to keep me company has rendered me desperate for interaction. Thus, ‘Charlie Barnes & The Geekks’ has happened.”
What's his plan for after the album?
“I'll be living in Leeds, trying not to starve.”
I guess I'd better buy it then.
Charlie's album, Geekk, will be released on the 30th of May at Bar 1:22, Huddersfield. Tickets are £4, available from the link below. TAGS: Charlie Barnes Words by: Alex Lynham
Links:
Charlie Barnes - Website
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