After breaking out in a big way with his acclaimed 2020 debut Live Forever, Bartees Strange (born Bartees Leon Cox, Jr.) is back with a new album, Farm to Table, coming June 17 on 4AD. “Cosigns,” our second preview of the album following recent single “Heavy Heart,” is out now alongside a music video (dir. Pooneh Ghana).
“Where […] 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,” a press release explains. The new album is said to reckon with Strange’s ascent to indie-rock stardom, looking back on where he came from as he keeps moving onward and upward. You can read Farm to Table’s title as tying into that: He’s been working tirelessly to sow, and now it’s time for him to reap—and feast.
That’s cause for celebration, which is where “Cosigns” comes in: The track is a victory lap, set to the kind of stylistic alchemy Strange has made his name on. But it’s also unlike anything he’s released so far, combining electro-pop stomp with an Auto-Tuned hip-hop vocal, synths burbling as Strange shouts out the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Backed by bass pluck, drum machine and spidery guitars, Strange warns, “I’m a thief, when things get big / Look, I’mma steal your fans,” then calls back to Live Forever as he boasts, “On Gomorrah I got cosigns, this advance gon’ ice my teeth / I pull up from 40 feet, at the Beacon for a week / With the Mossblerd pointed at you, bet I know y’all heard of me.” The track soon shifts into propulsive rock mode, crescendoing as Strange recites a poem he wrote in his early 20s: “How to be full, it’s the hardest to know / I keep consuming, I can’t give it up / Hungry as ever, it’s never enough / It’s never enough.”
Paste hailed Strange as one of 2020’s best new artists and Live Forever as one of that year’s best albums. Previous Farm to Table single “Heavy Heart” was one of our favorite songs of March 2022.
Following its June 17 digital release, Farm to Table comes to physical formats on Oct. 7. You can preorder the record right here and see its details down below, along with the “Cosigns” video and Strange’s tour dates.
Farm to Table Tracklist:
01. Heavy Heart
02. Mullholland Dr
03. Wretched
04. Cosigns
05. Tours
06. Hold The Line
07. We Were Only Close For Like Two Weeks
08. Escape This Circus
09. Black Gold
10. Hennessy
Farm to Table Art:
Bartees Strange Tour Dates:
April
22 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre *
23 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater *
24 – Eugene, CA @ McDonald Theater *
26 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades *
27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield *
29 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues San Diego *
30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
May
01 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
04 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs BBQ *
05 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
06 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *
07 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre *
08 – Kansas City, MO@ Grinders KC *
10 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre *
11 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre *
13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
July
03 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter 2022
04 – Cologne, DE @ Helios37
05 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
07 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
09 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival 2022
11 – Munich, DE @ Milla
12 – Fribourg, CH @ Festival Les Georges
13 – Rees-Haldern, NL @ Haldern Pop Bar
14 – Amsterdam, NL @ Upstairs @ Paradiso
16 – Leeds, GB @ Community Room @ Brudenell Social Club
17 – Manchester, GB @ Night & Day Café
19 – Cardiff, GB @ Clwb Ifor Bach
20 – Brighton, GB @ Patterns
21 – London, GB @ Powerhaus
22 – Suffolk, GB @ Latitude Festival
29 – Omaha, NE @ Maha Festival 2022
August
07 – Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
08 – Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater
09 – Ogden, UT @ Ogden Amphitheater
10 – Dillon, CO @ Dillon Amphitheater
13 – North Adams, MA @ MASS MoCA
26 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
October
01 – Columbia, MD @ All Things Go Music Festival
(* – w/ Car Seat Headrest)
