Intense and moody. Those are the first two words that come immediately to mind when listening to Barry Steel’s single ‘But you do’ which was released on 25th April (Comedia label) and which is the final single from the forthcoming album ‘Where stars go to sleep’.
Barry Steel is the brainchild of Melker Ewertson (who is also a member of the Swedish indie band The Crescents) and producer Oscar Beckman and their milieu is dreamy art rock, glam rock and even Britpop but with a hard edge judging from this song. They’ve made a name for themselves on the Stockholm underground scene and have been opening for one of Sweden’s biggest acts, Les Big Byrd, this year as well as generating an international following.
Their previous single, ‘Quit Ahead’, concerned the realisation of living an unsustainably destructive life but at the same time the shame of quitting what is acknowledged to be the feeling that is what life should look like for a young artist. I can only hope they quit before they join the 27 Club.
‘But you do’ is a look back at Melker Ewertson’s teenage years, his relationship with the bottle, and how it all affected his “overprotective and anxious mother.”
The lyrics address what his everyday life was like as a young teenager, both from his own and his mother’s perspective and also his own perspective on it in retrospect.
It’s also about him “having gone my own way”, harbouring feelings of “never being enough in terms of career choices and achievements.”
That invokes all manner of thoughts that impact many artists doesn’t it? From the “get a day job and make a success of it and keep your music for the evening” approach of parents to “stuff you, I did it my way.”
So, “I never did the right thing” Melker intones in the opening lines, with a melancholic voice to a melancholic melody.
It could be the music to an Alan Pinter play in that first section, of which there are three in all; each quite distinct. In the second one it takes on a military beat as a statement of intent unfurls, and the mantra changes to “I didn’t do nothing at all”, which sounds like the plea of a thief or even a murderer caught in the act.
The third and final section is a proclamation of victory, the “I did it my way” if you like, a powerful anthemic finale of wailing synthesisers and vocals, held together as these things often are by a simple two-note melody line.
Or at least that’s how I read it.
It is well written and produced and carries the weight, decades later, of Bowie collaborating with Carter USM to locate a song of social importance to the young especially, in Stockholm rather than London or Berlin.
Barry Steel´s debut album will be released in spring 2025, so that means soon.
Other musicians here:
Sofia Kristensen (synths, choir) and Olof Sjöberg (drums).
Find Melker Ewertson on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005128005554
Instagram: (Barry Steel) https://www.instagram.com/barry___steel/
Find Oscar Beckman on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscbeckman/
