MUMBAI: Edinburgh-born, London-based producer Barry Can’t Swim (AKA Joshua Mainnie) shares a nostalgic and melancholic new single “Can We Still Be Friends?” featuring fellow producer Laurence Guy. The track marks the third and final single to be released from Barry’s forthcoming new EP ‘More Content’ due out 24th June via Ninja Tune imprint Technicolour. The track is a unique blend of skilfully crafted electronic production mixed with Barry’s trademark Jazz inspired strings and keys, channelling the fluidity and flow of a live performance.
Barry and Lawrence’s collaboration came about organically, being fans of each other’s music they got in the studio after bumping into one another one evening. “It all came about really easily. I saw Laurence in a pub one night and thought I’d say hello, as I’m a genuine fan of his. He knew my music too, so we thought f*ck it let’s try a tune together. Within a week, he had sent a beat and I laid down some keys + melodies,” Barry comments. “It was a really natural collab, as I think we both look at music the same way and appreciate each others’ styles, and we’re both really happy with how it turned out.”
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The tracks come shortly after the release of “Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore”, the club-ready second single from the EP, aptly named after a 1999 rave documentary by Mark Leckey–capturing Britain’s underground club scene, and the euphoric opening single “God Is The Space Between Us (featuring Taite Imogen)” in which Barry pulls inspiration from the 90’s film “Before Sunrise”.
The EP reflects the lively vigour of 2021 single “Blackpool Boulevard”, released last year in collaboration with rising artist Anish Kumar and lead to Billboard voting Barry Can’t swim as one of their ‘10 Dance Artists To Watch in 2022’. The track received amazing support (scoring a spot on the BBC Radio 1 playlist) from the likes of Pete Tong, Danny Howard, The Blessed Madonna, Annie Mac and Jack Saunders. Mixmag also voted the track as one of their ‘Best Tracks of the Year’ saying, “The joint tune from the pair brandishes a sublime orchestral lead up to its dancefloor-moving, four-to-the-floor finale.”
