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Jun 17, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Leon Piotrowski

Bartees Strange has released a new album, Farm to Table, today via 4AD. Now that it’s out you can stream the whole thing here and also read our review of it.

Stream the album below. Yesterday we posted Mark Moody’s rave review of the album and you can read that here.

Here’s an excerpt from Moody’s review: “His 2020-released debut, Live Forever, may have had glimpses of live set barnburners in ‘Mustang’ and ‘Boomer,’ but Farm to Table’s numerous peaks are arena ready. Early single ‘Heavy Heart’ has already set the hype engine ablaze during opening sets for artists ranging from Car Seat Headrest to Courtney Barnett, but songs like ‘Wretched’ and ‘Black Gold’ are engineered to test the foundational soundness of wherever Strange might be playing in the future.”

Read the full review here.

Farm to Table includes “Heavy Heart,” a new song he shared in March via a music video when he announced his signing to 4AD. “Heavy Heart” was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced in April he shared its second single, “Cosigns,” via a video for the song (which was one of our Songs of the Week). In May Strange shared its third single, “Hold the Line,” which is about George Floyd’s daughter, Gianna and was one of our Songs of the Week. Earlier this week he put out the album’s fourth and final pre-release single, “Wretched,” via a video for it.

Farm to Table came out digitally today via 4AD (his first for the label), with an LP and CD release expected in October. It is the second full-length album from the Washington, D.C.-based musician (full name Bartees Leon Cox Jr.), the follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut album, Live Forever, which came out in 2020 via Memory Music (a deluxe edition followed last year and included the new song “Weights,” which was one of our Songs of the Week). Live Forever was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2020.

A previous press release described Farm to Table in greater detail: “Where his 2020 debut record Live Forever introduced the experiences and places that shaped Bartees (Flagey Brussels, Mustang Oklahoma), Farm to Table zeros in on the people—specifically his family—and those closest to him on his journey so far. With his career firmly on the ascent, Farm to Table examines Bartees’ constantly shapeshifting relationship with life post-Live Forever. It also speaks to a deeper lore that says, don’t forget where you came from, and this album is why. Always remembering where he came from, across 10 songs Bartees is celebrating the past, moving towards the future and fully appreciating the present.”

Strange has also been active as a producer lately, working on the recent new albums by Proper. and Oceanator.

Strange first garnered attention for covering a string of The National tracks, including on Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of National covers released in 2020 on Brassland, a label run by members of the band. He was born in Ipswich, England, but grew up in Mustang, a largely the white and conservative rural town outside Oklahoma City, before launching his music career in Washington, D.C. In between he also worked in the Obama administration.

Read our interview with Strange on Live Forever.

Bartees Strange 2022 Tour Dates:

June 18 - LOS ANGELES, CA, The Getty
July 1 – SIX-FOURS-LES-PLAGES, FR, Ile Du Gaou
July 3 – WERCHTER, BE, Rock Werchter 2022
July 4 – COLOGNE, DE, Helios37
July 5 – HAMBURG, DE, Molotow
July 7 – BERLIN, DE, Badehaus
July 9 – MADRID, ES, Mad Cool Festival 2022
July 11 – MUNICH, DE, Milla
July 12 – FRIBOURG, CH, Festival Les Georges
July 13 – REES-HALDERN, NL, Haldern Pop Bar
July 14 – AMSTERDAM, NL, Upstairs @ Paradiso
July 16 – LEEDS, GB, Community Room @ Brudenell Social Club
July 17 – MANCHESTER, GB, Night & Day Café
July 19 – CARDIFF, GB, Clwb Ifor Bach
July 20 – BRIGHTON, GB, Patterns
July 21 – LONDON, GB, Powerhaus
July 22 – SUFFOLK, GB, Latitude Festival
July 29 – OMAHA, NE, Maha Festival 2022
August 7 – CALGARY, AB, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
August 8 – BONNER, MT, KettleHouse Amphitheater
August 9 – OGDEN, UT, Ogden Amphitheater
August 10 – DILLON, CO, Dillon Amphitheater
August 13 – NORTH ADAMS, MA, MASS MoCA
August 26 – TORONTO, ON, Budweiser Stage
August 27 – OTTAWA, ON, National Arts Centre
August 29 – MONTREAL, QC, MTELUS
August 30 – QUEBEC, QC, Capitole de Quebec
September 1 – HALIFAX, NS, Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
October 1 - COLUMBIA, MD, All Things Go Music Festival

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