The last time 303 Magazine spoke with Denver’s all-female trio, Barbara, they had just released their debut album, Escape Artist, accompanied by a same-day performance at the infamous East Colfax institution, Twist & Shout. Since coming out of a pandemic that had shaped their band, their creative processes and everything in between that a full-length album requires, things have exponentially changed in the last three years for Barbara. In the broadest sense, they underwent an evolution that has taken their band dynamic from “serendipitous collaboration to intentional creation,” resulting in the April release of their sophomore album, SO THIS IS LIVING.
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Having overcome inevitable changes and regained both their musical and professional footing, Barbara celebrated SO THIS IS LIVING with a release party at the hi-dive. The April 5 live performance included acoustic guitar, piano, and synth added to Camilla Vaitaitis’s guitar, Anna Panella’s bass and Bridget Hartman’s percussion, along with musical guest appearances from Enmanuel Alexander and Raul Sanchez. The new album was played in full, which included the singles “Dark Water Disco” and “My Birthday Party. The tracks off SO THIS IS LIVING are dark yet ethereal, tapping into a bristly femininity that urges the listener to lock in while simultaneously allowing them to let loose.
That dichotomy between focus and lack of restraint that the listener hears is reflected in the intention that Barbara created for the album. “This album represents a newfound patience toward creating together,” said Vaitaitis. “Having improved on our instruments, we were able to spend more time experimenting with arrangements and finding new sounds.” Through their recording process at The Post Haus, the trio was able to dig into ideas and inspiration, and “slowly unravel small details” from those inspirations to uncover new sounds. And while their first album “explored the feelings of all the ways we were trying to escape life,” SO THIS IS LIVING explores “accepting the chaos and choosing to just live in it,” said Vaitaitis. Over the course of a year, hour-by-hour and with each perspective gained, Barbara was able to hone their present power and funnel it into the music.
For Barbara, some of the highlights in the past few years have been “playing festivals like Treefort, Sled Island, UMS and FoCOMX, as well as touring the western US and central Canada.” The future of the band will follow that trajectory, with more plans to continue writing and performing. “We have a lot of fun shows lined up, such as FoCOMX, Indiewood Festival, Levitt Pavilion with Andy Frasco, and a couple other festivals that haven’t been announced yet,” teased Vaitaitis. Also, in an effort to capitalize on this incredible momentum, the band has another summer writing session in the mountains planned for their next album.
Listen to SO THIS IS LIVING on Spotify here.