Growing up in the English Village of Barton Hartshorn, the artist in question started out as part of the band Dictafone, refining his talents across the three albums he made with the band before branching out as a solo artist, taking the name of his home town to honour the writers and performers that he set out to homage.
After four albums, Barton has certainly given the local folk artists their dues, spending the last decade further evolving his storytelling essence, the narratives he is able to weave becoming a core element of his success. Spending time across Australia, the USA and of course the UK, Barton’s continued ability to resonate with tastemakers and convey ineffable emotions makes him a constant light for the industry.
With his latest project, ‘Everything…’, a five-track EP filled with thoughtfulness and emotive atmospheres. Barton unveils a gracious insight into his talent, never taking a fully confident stance as he wades his way through themes of anxiety, acceptance, introspection and optimism. Whether supported by a vast array of instrumentation that glitters the soundscape and sends soaring frequencies through the headphones of the listener, or stripping back the elements to as simple as possible, a vocalist and his guitar, Barton consistently brings a sense of true, raw feeling to his performance, with some melodies feeling more like spoken poetry than infectious singalongs. The pensive attitudes are contrasted with moments of unbridled contentment, bringing the listener through his personality, the highs and lows, leaving them a little more present than before they became his audience.
Barton explains the project, “I was sitting in a packed cinema in Valencia, Spain, watching a film premiere and my song began to play over the final scene. No one could see me in the dark but I had a huge smile on my face. It was a special moment. The songs on this EP were written to accompany “Everything is better than before” on its first cinema outing…”
