Dan Barrett (musician, born 1980)

Barrett composes one-half of the industrial post-punk and shoegaze duo Have a Nice Life,[1] which he formed alongside Tim Macuga in 2000.[2]

The execution of Giles Corey, a 17th century farmer from whom the band derives its name

Giles Corey was the first main solo project of Barrett. It began as an outlet for country music but ultimately became inspired by folk music,[3] and has been described by observers as slowcore, a slow and sobre genre influenced by folk styles, among others.[4] Barrett said the music was influenced by country singer-songwriters Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard, among others.[3] The project took its name from Giles Corey, an English farmer accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials and executed by pressing. Barrett chose this as the namesake because it demonstrated the "immorality of execution", especially peine forte et dure. Barrett says of Corey: "He made them murder him. He made it ugly".[5] This fixation on death followed a one-year period wherein Barrett was contemplating, and had attempted, suicide.[3][5]

During the early stages of the Giles Corey project, he placed self-imposed restrictions on which instruments would be featured. However, as the debut album, the self-titled Giles Corey (2011), evolved, these constraints faded.[3][6] The album draws on philosophy and the paranormal, something Barrett explored to theorise the experience of death during his depressive year. While unconvinced by the idea of an afterlife, he appreciates its symbolism: speaking to Scene Point Blank, Barrett said "I don't believe in an actual afterlife, but I believe that the image and symbolism of the afterlife describes death in a way that speaks to people, myself included".[3] Despite the album focusing on the concept of death, he argues against it being a concept album: "I don't really like the term 'concept album,' since it just sounds corny".[3]

Giles Corey was released alongside a book which provided more details on the album's influences, as well as various other items of prose: Stereogum described it as "an etiology of suicide, self-asphyxiation manual, novel-in-verse, fictional biography of a cult leader, Sebaldian picture story, et al".[5] The book was in part a sequel to the one that accompanied Have a Nice Life's Deathconsciousness.[3]

Black Wing is the second solo project of Barrett. The music is categorised within electronic subgenres, though maintains the gloomy and dark elements of his work as Giles Corey and with Have a Nice Life.[7][8] While the primary genres are distinct from those of his earlier projects, Barrett still notes similarities: "there are certain things I can point to as being pretty indicative of my aesthetic sense, little fingerprints that connect my oldest stuff with my newest stuff. None of that's on purpose, but I definitely sense it there".[9] In an interview with The Seventh Hex, Barrett said "it's more a mood that I want to go for, rather than a specific sound".[9] He cited 1980s new wave as an inspiration, as well as Washed Out, whom Pitchfork described as "the godfather of chillwave":[9][10] a style of electronic music that Black Wing has been classified under.[11][12]

Barrett began creating music as Black Wing in 2013, releasing two demos onto Bandcamp: one self-titled and "My Body Betrayed Me".[13] In June 2015, "My Body Betrayed Me" received a music video and Barrett announced ...Is Doomed, the debut album of Black Wing,[11] which released on 25 September 2015.[14] The album was enjoyed by critics,[15][16] though some thought it was underwhelming when compared to his previous works. Sam Robinson for Echoes and Dust said it was refreshing yet reminiscent of his previous works, but that listeners should not expect it to be "the next great milestone" in Barrett's discography.[14] Thomas Brand for Beat was disappointed with the production but still lauded several songs, including the closer "If I Let Him In", which he considered Barrett's best work to date.[17] Tiny Mix Tapes highlighted the same song, describing it as "centering, chilling, later explosive, terribly despondent, but humbling".[13]

...Is Doomed was followed up five years later with Black Wing's sophomore album No Moon. Created during the COVID-19 pandemic and released on 11 December 2020, it is thematically dark and emotional.[12] No Moon was preceded by three singles: "Bollywood Apologetics",[7] "Is This Real Life, Jesus Christ",[18] and "Choir of Assholes / You Think It'll Make You Happy But It Won't".[19] Like its predecessor, No Moon was enjoyed by critics,[20] many of which said it avoided several of ...Is Doomed's shortcomings.[7][12] For instance, Brian Roseler for Treblezine distinguished its production, something reviewers found issue with in ...Is Doomed. Roseler finished his review by noting that there was less lyrical intensity on this album than Barrett's previous work, but that this was of no detriment: "It's a triumph of purposeful and intentional design, an album that was born from the pandemic, and tailored from a landscape of dreams".[7] Conversely, Aleksandr Smirnov of Beats Per Minute disliked the change in style and opined that no song was memorable.[8] Regardless, the album was featured as Bandcamp's "Album of the Day",[21] and Chris Keith-Wright for Echoes and Dust called it fantastic and hoped that the next release would arrive sooner than the five-year gap between Black Wing's first two albums.[12]

Barrett has additionally released music under short-lived pseudonyms and bands. This includes releases with fellow Have a Nice Life member Tim Macuga under the names Gate and Navhalr, which were post-hardcore and black metal bands respectively;[22][23] as Married with his wife Thao, which released Christmas music;[24] and as a member of the bands In Pieces and The Cappuccino Jellybeans.[25][26]

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended Plays

Studio albums

Singles and demos

Extended plays