Matthew Barnes hit the ground running with his debut Forest Swords EP Dagger Paths back in 2010, with critics raving about its psychedelic guitars and samplestrewn anatomical design. This was followed by albums Engravings (2013) and Compassion (2017) where Barnes developed entirely new and uniquely imaginative soundscapes, employing multiple layers of electronic textures, percussion and vocal samples.
So inspiring was Barnes’ foray into contemporary sound design, he was approached to score for video games, soundtrack and even theatre. Following a six-year break, Barnes’ third Forest Swords album, Bolted, is a playful yet no less enigmatic return, rewriting the electronic playbook with its combination of inexplicable atmospheres, deconstructed beats, eerie vocals and some beautifully absorbing melodies.
Your sound is very distinguishable from other electronic artists. Was that an immediate ambition when you started making electronic music?
“I never really went into it with any sort of plan or sound idea. I got made redundant from my job, so making music was almost a bit of an experiment of playing around on my laptop when I was bored. I wasn’t listening to anything in particularly and didn’t pinpoint what I wanted to sound like; I just made the music I wanted to hear and chose sounds that resonated with me on some level, almost creating the things that I wanted to exist in the world.”
