Bartees Strange announces his new album, Horror, will arrive on February 14, 2025 via 4AD. The LP is the follow up to 2022’s Farm to Table, which Strange was raised on fear. His family told scary stories to teach life lessons, and at an early age, he started watching scary movies to practice being strong. The world can be a terrifying place, and for a young, queer, Black person in rural America, that terror can be visceral. Horror is an album about facing those fears and growing to become someone to be feared.

To celebrate the announcement, Strange has released new single “Sober” produced by Strange, Jack Antonoff, Yves Rothman, and Lawrence Rothman. Strange says, “This song is about falling short in a relationship, over and over and drinking because of it. I think this is something a lot of people can probably relate to. Being in love, but not being the best at showing it or feeling successful within it. And being afraid that this is something you’ll always deal with because you never really saw a better example of how love works.” The single is paired with a music video directed by Ricardo Betancourt that draws inspiration from Sly & The Family Stone’s 1974 Soul Train performance. “Sober” follows Strange’s previous single “Lie 95.”

Strange says of Horror:

“In a way I think I made this record to reach out to people who may feel afraid of things in their lives too. For me it’s love, locations, cosmic bad luck, or that feeling of doom that I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember. I think that it’s easier to navigate the horrors and strangeness of life once you realize that everyone around you feels the same. This album is just me trying to connect. I’m trying to shrink the size of the world. I’m trying to feel close – so I’m less afraid.”

Strange began Horror at his home studio with an eye toward production. A session with Yves and Lawrence Rothman (Yves Tumor, Lady Gaga) provided a rhythmic and sonic backbone for chunks of the record. After Strange met Jack Antonoff and the pair became fast friends, Strange worked on some material for Antonoff’s band Bleachers, and Antonoff worked on Horror. Across the album’s 12 new tracks are genre-bending threads of the music his dad introduced him to -Parliament Funkadelic, Fleetwood Mac, Teddy Pendergrass, and Neil Young – merged with Strange’s interest in hip-hop, country, indie rock, and house.

Since the release of Farm to Table, Strange has toured toured with boygenius, Clairo, Dijon, and The National. In February 2025, he will play a series of album release performances in LA, DC, NYC and London.

Bartees Strange
Horror
Tracklist
4AD

1. Too Much
2. Hit It Quit It
3. Sober
4. Baltimore
5. Lie 95
6. Wants, Needs
7. Lovers
8. Doomsday Buttercup
9. 17
10. Loop Defenders
11. Norf Gun
12. Backseat Banton

Bartees Strange 2025 Tour Dates:

Thursday, Feb 13 – LOS ANGELES, CA @ Paramount
Saturday, Feb 15 – WASHINGTON, DC @ 9:30 Club
Wednesday, Feb 19 – NEW YORK, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Wednesday, Feb 26 – LONDON, UK @ Oslo Hackney

Pre-order Horror by Bartees Strange HERE