Barry Can't Swim Loner
Barry Can’t Swim's Loner arrives as a sunlit, late-night manifesto that marries analogue euphoria with emotional intimacy, and across four professional reviews it earns an 80/100 consensus score. Critics single out the record's ability to turn dancefloor momentum into private feeling, with tracks like “About To Begin”, “Different” and “Still Riding” repeatedly named among the best songs on Loner. While some moments trade risk for safe polish, the collection's colourful aesthetics and nostalgic electronic influences make its highs resonate.
Professional reviews note a consistent blend of festival-ready peaks and restrained grooves: PopMatters praises the album's emotional heft and urgent highlights, DIY Magazine frames it between Jamie XX and Fred again.. for its club-ready tenderness, The Skinny points to inward feeling within propulsive textures, and Clash celebrates the bright production and the sunset-psychedelic surge of “Kimpton”. Critics consistently reference themes of identity, dislocation and cut-and-paste production that reward both close listening and rave-room immersion. Standout tracks extend to closer “Wandering Mt. Moon” for its warm strings and cinematic closure, reinforcing the album's visual identity.
Taken together, the critical consensus suggests Loner is a confident second-step that balances dance/electronic celebration with introspection. Across four reviews and an 80/100 score, reviewers agree the record is worth attention for its standout songs and emotional contrasts, setting a clear creative trajectory for Barry Can’t Swim.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Kimpton
2 mentions
"“Kimpton” perfectly encapsulates why his rise has been so rapid"— PopMatters
About To Begin
4 mentions
"The pumping acid techno of “About to Begin” should be the dance soundtrack for Gen Z."— PopMatters
Different
3 mentions
"“Different” is the first certified banger."— PopMatters
“Kimpton” perfectly encapsulates why his rise has been so rapid
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Person You’d Like To Be
Different
Kimpton
All My Friends
About To Begin
Still Riding
Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts
Machine Noise For A Quiet Daydream
Like It’s Part Of The Dance
Childhood
Marriage
Wandering Mt. Moon
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Barry Can't Swim makes a compelling case on Loner, where the best songs - “Different”, “About To Begin” and “Still Riding” - show him at his most confident and inventive. Paul Carr's voice praises the record's emotional heft and festival-ready peaks, noting how tracks like “The Person You'd Like To Be” and “All My Friends” marry soul and synth with real feeling. He balances admiration with clear-eyed critique, pointing out a few safer moments that do not quite land, but overall the album cements his rapid ascent and delivers the best tracks on Loner with urgency and heart.
Key Points
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“Different” is the best song for its explosive breakbeats, climbing bass and dynamic shifts.
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The album’s core strengths are emotional depth and skillful blending of nostalgic electronic influences with soulful samples.
Themes
Critic's Take
Barry Can’t Swim's Loner finds its best tracks in the immersive opener “The Person You’d Like To Be” and the restrained groove of “Still Riding”, both of which crystallise the album's balance of danceable textures and inward feeling. The record leans into contrasts - from the momentum of “About To Begin” to the wistful jazz of “Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts” - which is exactly what makes these the best songs on Loner. The reviewer praises the opener as a highlight and singles out “Still Riding” as a standout for its rhythmic restraint and elegance, making these the tracks listeners most want to seek out.
Key Points
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The opener “The Person You’d Like To Be” is the album's standout for its immersive, emotive atmosphere.
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Loner's core strength is its contrast between danceable production and introspective, jazz-tinged textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Barry Can't Swim's Loner feels like a tender, club-ready second act, where the best songs - notably “About To Begin” and “Different” - balance ecstatic euphoria with intimacy. The reviewer writes in a measured, comparative tone, placing the album between Jamie XX and Fred again.. while praising its human resonance and dancefloor instincts. He singles out “About To Begin” as the clear standout for its ebb and flow and festival-ready chorus, while pointing to “Different” for glitchy vocal production that rewards close listening. Overall, the narrative argues the best tracks on Loner work both in clubs and in solitary moments, giving the album persuasive emotional weight.
Key Points
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“About To Begin” is best because of its impeccable ebb and flow, earworm chorus and festival-ready moments.
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The album’s core strengths are its blend of dancefloor energy and intimate, emotionally resonant production.
Themes
Critic's Take
Barry Can’t Swim’s Loner feels like a lap of honour, all bright, enticing productions and palpable confidence. The review sings most loudly for “Kimpton”, described as a Four Tet/Bonobo-style banger that feels like watching a sunset on psychedelics, and for warm house moments such as “Cars Pass By Like Childhood Sweethearts”. Tom Morgan also highlights the closer “Wandering Mt. Moon” as a lovely conclusion, its Golden Age strings and delicate instrumentation sealing the album’s imaginative, colourful identity. This is an accessible, creative, colour-splattered dance record whose soulful peaks make the best songs on Loner stand out effortlessly.
Key Points
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‘Kimpton’ is the best song because it is singled out as a "gorgeous highlight" and compared to Four Tet/Bonobo, evoking sunset-like psychedelia.
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The album's core strengths are its vivid visual identity, colourful and soulful dance productions, and a confident, celebratory late-night energy.