New Music From The Barr Brothers

The Barr Brothers are set to release their third album, Queens of the Breakers, on October 13, 2017 via Secret City Records. The band began in the late 2000s, after songwriter Brad Barr and his brother – drummer Andrew Barr – moved to Montréal after spending a decade in Providence, RI playing in avant-rock trio The Slip. Brad’s apartment shared a wall with Sarah Pagé, a unique and exciting harpist who began collaborating with the brothers and recording in their building’s boiler room. They released their self-titled debut in 2011 and have since performed on The Late Show, NPR, The CBC, Morning Becomes Eclectic and more. They’ve shared stages with The National, The War On Drugs, Patrick Watson, My Morning Jacket, Emmylou Harris and countless others, headlined the Montréal Jazz Festival in front of 40,000 people, and sold out venues across the world. Their 2014 sophomore LP, Sleeping Operator, was a breakthrough that found success on radio and was streamed more than 60 million times around the world. The new album arrives after the longest-ever pause in Brad and Andrew Barr’s 20-year career in music. Both became fathers since 2014’s Sleeping Operator was released, and Pagé has spent that time on her efforts to redefine the harp, its sound, and its role in modern music. Queens of the Breakers, engineered by Ryan Freeland (Milk Carton Kids, Ray LaMontagne, Bonnie Raitt) and Marcus Paquin (Arcade Fire, The National), was born out of reflection of what home and family mean after the effects of life on the road.

“It Came to Me,” a driving, ecstatic pre-release single, begins with a squall of guitar and a rush of drums and quickly forms into a mean, bluesy riff textured with a classical acoustic harp. Brad’s voice distorts to a rasp, telling the tale of a Zen-like quest for answers to the questions of the universe. The song is included here both in its original form and as a radio edit that has been truncated for length.

“A band that has consistently questioned the limits of folk, blues and psychedelia.” -Paste

“Gorgeous, atmospheric… The band’s unique sound… includes a harp player like no other.” -Brooklyn Vegan

RIYL: The War On Drugs, The Avett Brothers, Milk Carton Kids, The Cave Singers, Dawes, Langhorne Slim, Fruit Bats

Label: Secret City Records

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