BarbaRossa

As the solo endeavor of British multi-instrumentalist James Mathé, Barbarossa surfaced during the second half of the 2000s, shaping a reflective blend of minimalist folk, R&B, and electronic-tinged pop. Early ties connected him to Scotland's Fence Collective before he moved to Memphis Industries, which issued his 2013 release Bloodlines, notable for its dense layering, and the more atmospheric Imager two years afterward. His reputation also rests on frequent partnerships, among them repeated sessions with Swedish singer/songwriter José González, along with tours alongside Junip, POLICA, and This Is the Kit. Several compositions found placement in series such as Elementary and How I Met Your Mother. The project resurfaced in 2021 via the lean, synth-centered Love Here Listen, shaped under the guidance of James Greenwood of Ghost Culture.

London-born Mathé traces his songwriting drive to childhood experiments at the piano. The Barbarossa moniker first surfaced in 2005 with the mini-album Sea Like Blood, issued through the Fence Collective's Picket Fences series. That effort leaned more folk-oriented than subsequent material, yet Mathé soon broadened his palette on the full-length debut Chemical Campfires, which Fence put out in 2007 and which incorporated stronger electronic and R&B hues. Entering the following decade he deepened his association with José González, contributing to both the singer's live band and the Junip lineup. Those experiences, together with Mathé's own wide-ranging background, informed the close-knit, economical pieces collected on Bloodlines, Memphis Industries' 2013 release.

The ethereal Imager followed in early 2015 and included a guest turn from González. In the ensuing period Mathé maintained an active schedule on the road with González while settling in the coastal Kent town of Margate, where he also became a parent for the first time. He resurfaced in 2018 with Lier, his third Barbarossa album, tracked locally alongside producer James Greenwood, also known as Ghost Culture, and incorporating percussion by Sweden's Joel Wästberg. Greenwood proved an especially attuned collaborator, prompting further joint work that began with the tidal pool tapes, a 2019 acoustic revisiting of earlier Barbarossa material, and continued with the 2021 studio effort Love Here Listen. For that project the pair deliberately restricted themselves to a selection of vintage synthesizers, yielding a concise yet compelling set of electronic pop.