Cult hero Dan Barrett is running in a stream of introspection and outward projection again, this time around as the gloomy, Drive-inspired Black Wing. Like before with his work under Have a Nice Life with Tim Macuga — which was formed in 2000, only to release its debut eight years later — Barrett has taken his time with Black Wing’s upcoming debut …Is Doomed, recording under the name “Dan Barrett and the Cruisers” for the Drive 2 soundtrack, forgetting about it, and later revisiting it as Have A Nice Life was wrapping up The Unnatural World. Two unmastered Black Wing demos have been up on a Bandcamp since 2013, both of which (“Black Wing” and “My Body Betrayed Me”) appear on the album along with final track “If I Let Him In,” which we’re streaming below.
…Is Doomed is Barrett’s call-and-response of Giles Corey. Both are flesh-and-blood Dan Barrett, differing only in production. Where Corey was solely acoustic instrumentation, Black Wing is strictly digital. Each side equally gut-wrenching and uplifted. For …Is Doomed, its disposition came from a spurt of health issues. Barrett was “surrounded by all sorts of machines, lots of beeps and boops and what have you. I had a heart monitor strapped to my chest for a month. I was dripping a lot of blood all over the place. It was all very undramatic and fleshly and strange” – an unsettling sterile image like that of Pharmakon’s Bestial Burden.
“If I Let Him In” is a mid-July, sun-just-set, windows-down, interstate-going-80 kind of song. Centering, chilling, later explosive, terribly despondent, but humbling. Like Dark Rift-esque witchhouse, an uplifting and somber message covered with saw synthesizers, echoed symbols, and euphoria.
…Is Doomed is out September 18 on LP, CD, and digital from The Flesner; pre-order will go live next Tuesday at 1pm (PDT). The cover art is by illustrator Becca Stadtlander. And last but not least, look for the Giles Corey S/T reissue this fall from The Flenser.
• Black Wing: https://blackwingisdoomed.bandcamp.com
• The Flenser: http://theflenser.com
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