Charlotte Smith
Barry Can’t Swim (aka Joshua Spence Mainnie) releases his second studio album, Loner, delivering a deep sense of sonder intertwined with dance.
Barry Can’t Swim has become a big name in the music scene over the past two years.
Following the release of his album, When Will We Land? (2023), over 100 million streams have landed him playing notable festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury and headlining All Points East and Lost Village festivals this summer.
His latest album, Loner (2025), however, offers a fresh introspective exploration into the sound of Barry Can’t Swim.
‘LONER’ (2025) Album Review
The mix of hypnotic grooves and euphoric house melodies, intertwined with spoken word, provides a diverse listening experience for audiences in Loner (2025).
Mainnie has described the album, which touches on music the producer grew up listening to, as “…the most authentic expression I could offer of myself and my life over the past year”.
Tracks 1-3
‘Loner’, as the title suggests, invites us in for a more melancholic listening experience.
“Change. There is nothing permanent. Except change”. These are the first words that are heard in the opening track, ‘The Person You’d Like To Be’, followed by deep, hypnotic synths. Both the lyrics and the sound create a harrowing yet enticing start to the album.
The next track, ‘Different’, adheres to the album’s direction, blending flanged textures with skittering breakbeats to launch a groovy, melodic stretch with a heavier sound.
“Uplifting and rhythmically playful, the tracks draw on jazz influences, particularly through the use of brass instrumentation.”
Barry Can’t Swim uses his signature tribal, euphoric sound in the track ‘Kimpton’, collaborating with O’Flynn, which is reminiscent of the previous melodic track ‘Sunsleeper’.
Tracks 5-7
The next few tracks, ‘About To Begin’ and ‘Still Riding’ (which samples Kali Uchis’ ‘Ridin Round’) burst with an upbeat garage-house energy, driven by rolling basslines and lyrical motifs which create a kinetic groove within your listening space.
‘Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts’ stands out as a personal favourite for me, a heartbreak anthem wrapped in nostalgia and longing.
“The title itself evokes a sense of yearning for passing strangers, fleeting moments and for connections that never quite stay.”
“She’s gone forevermore. Why’d she have to leave me?”. These distorted, aching lyrics drift through the track like a fading memory, capturing the quiet devastation of lost love. The title itself evokes a sense of yearning for passing strangers, fleeting moments and for connections that never quite stay.
Track 8
On the eighth track of the album, ‘Machine Noise For A Quiet Daydream’, Barry Can’t Swim beautifully incorporates the spoken word of Seamus. The track is key in the encapsulation of the entire album’s unsettling mood, with the lyrical spoken word contrasting between positive affirmations and underlying anxieties.
Tracks 10-12
Both tracks, ‘Childhood’ and ‘Marriage’ gear off the emotional impact of the album, providing a more chilled listening experience. Uplifting and rhythmically playful, the tracks draw on jazz influences, particularly through the use of brass instrumentation. This creates a warm, slightly distorted groove that feels both familiar and vibrant.
The ending track, ‘Wandering Mt.Moon’, delicately closes the album with a violin ethereal beat. The track progresses beautifully into a deep feeling of nostalgia, representative of the deeply packed emotions throughout ‘Loner’.
Barry Can’t Swim Performances
After shutting down Glastonbury’s The Temple stage with a six-hour packed line-up, Barry Can’t Swim is now entering the final stretch of his summer festival run, with upcoming appearances at HARD Summer in Los Angeles and headlining two top-ranking UK festivals.
“Barry Can’t Swim has become a big name in the music scene over the past two years.”
In November, he returns to Manchester for a full-venue takeover at The Warehouse Project (WHP) with Earth’s Only Paradise, an immersive event curated entirely by Barry Can’t Swim himself. He’ll perform both a DJ and live set, featuring tracks from his album Loner. The carefully selected line-up also includes DJ Seinfeld, Ben UFO, Prospa and Ross From Friends presenting Bubble Love, making this one of the most anticipated WHP events of the year.
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Featured image courtesy of Exit Festival on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
