When Bartees Strange arrived on the scene with an anomaly of a debut in 2020′s Live Forever, the D.C.-based songwriter knew he had something to prove, but didn’t let any of his underdog status shake his confidence from showing the world why he was a star. That showed in the way he built worlds with genre-melding dynamics as an indie rock polymath punctuated by a natural rap and R&B swagger.

On his follow-up Farm to Table (and first for major indie 4AD,) Strange reaps what he sews in a post-fame recollection, processing his status as one of indie’s biggest artists on the rise without letting new found celebrity stunt his come-up from his roots. It’s an album that seeks out bigger spaces, and fills them accordingly: festival stage-sized twilight production, a battle for authenticity, a showcase of vulnerability, and a boundless style he continues to hone as is own. The serve is another feast.

Highlights: “Heavy Heart”, “Mulholland Dr.”, “Escape the Circus”

Bartees Strange’s Farm to Table is available now on 4AD.

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