Quinton Barnes Black Noise
Quinton Barnes's Black Noise confronts tradition and turmoil with a deliberately abrasive poise, and across three professional reviews critics largely agree it succeeds more often than it falters. Earning a 73.33/100 consensus score from three reviews, the record stakes its claim where noise, avant-garde jazz and raw improvisation collide. Reviewers consistently point to a handful of standout tracks as entry points: “Black Orpheus”, the nine-minute centerpiece; the title cut “Black Noise”; “Art of Survival”; “What Would Eastman Do?”; and the elegiac “Movement 7”.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Black Orpheus
3 mentions
""I’m something like a menace / Self-destruct before I let ‘em get the best of me""— The Line of Best Fit
Black Noise
3 mentions
"Parts of the title cut could soundtrack a psycho-horror film"— The Line of Best Fit
Art of Survival
3 mentions
""Pray for me / It’s never letting go""— The Line of Best Fit
"I’m something like a menace / Self-destruct before I let ‘em get the best of me"
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Black Noise
What Would Eastman Do?
Art of Survival
Black Orpheus
Sober for the Weekend
Quiet Noise
Movement 7
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 3 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Quinton Barnes's Black Noise is fearless in its obscurity, and the review points to the best songs as those that most completely realize that vision. The reviewer singles out “Art of Survival” for its overwhelming, numbing cascade of sound and “Black Orpheus” for its mystical unease and streaky violin drama, making them the standout tracks on Black Noise. Punk-infused “Sober for the Weekend” is noted for rebel drums and shrieking violin, while the closing pair “Quiet Noise” and “Movement 7” provide a melodic, elegiac reprieve that frames the album's reluctant acceptance. Overall, the best tracks on Black Noise are those that balance menace and beauty, turbulence and fragile closure.
Key Points
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The best song is a track that channels overwhelming, numbing sound into purposeful menace and uncanny beauty, exemplified by "Art of Survival".
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The album's core strengths are its fearless experimental soundscapes, Afropessimism-informed themes, and a closing shift toward melodic elegy.
Themes
Critic's Take
In this bruising, audacious record Quinton Barnes rips apart convention on Black Noise, and the review points to a handful of best tracks that embody that ambition. The dense odyssey “Black Orpheus” is positioned as the album's centerpiece, its nine-minute despair and self-destructing lyricism making it one of the best songs on Black Noise. Equally vital are “Black Noise” and “Art of Survival”, which respectively mix psycho-horror textures and Twin Peaks-like surrealism into the album's best tracks. The reviewer praises the closer “Movement 7” for finding fragile beauty amid chaos, sealing why these songs stand out on Black Noise.
Key Points
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The best song is "Black Orpheus" because its nine-minute, self-destructive odyssey crystallizes the album's despair and audacity.
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The album's core strengths are its dissolution of genre boundaries, fusion of noise and free improvisation, and uncompromising exploration of Black identity.
Themes
Critic's Take
In his vivid, impatient way Jonathan Rimmer finds the best tracks on Black Noise where the chaos resolves into clarity. He points listeners to “Black Orpheus” as the highlight, a nine-minute moment when Barnes' voice finally emerges above the overwhelming mix. Elsewhere the title track and “What Would Eastman Do?” illustrate the record's genre-fusing ambition - breathless multisyllabic bursts and androgynous vocals battling dissonant trumpets. If you want the best songs on Black Noise, start with “Black Orpheus”, then work back through the title track and “What Would Eastman Do?” for the clearest windows into Barnes' psyche.
Key Points
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The best song is “Black Orpheus” because it is the one track where Barnes' voice rises above the mix and feels fully realized.
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The album's core strengths are its genre-fusing ambition, thematic reach into race and existence, and raw, spontaneous improvisation.