James Barrett writes dramatic narratives that wind through wide arrays of ebbs and flows, and that dynamic is no better explored than in his new song, “Oh My God,” featuring fellow Scranton, PA solo artist, Sweetnest. Starting soft and subtle, the track launches off a minute in with warm rhythm tones and driven leads that follow the hook Barrett sets up in the first verse. There’s a beautiful message of taking the positive parts of a failed relationship or a missed goal and recognizing how it’s made you a better person, and that it’s not always up to only you to continue the fight: “I’m tired of being angry with the birds and the heat, and I’m tired of being angry with the person you came to be. I can’t ask you to relive something for me.”

James Barrett has been slowly releasing his music for the past five years, but really crafted something special with last October’s full length through Honest Face Records, The Price of Comfort. With a spectacular ability to establish sonic continuity among the album’s eleven tracks, he applies a dual perspective of introspection with consideration for the world-at-large. While TPoC addresses the nuances of every person’s varied grieving processes, his new work has taken a full turn into the personal scape and it hits justs as heavily as before, if not more so. The arena-quality, full band additions have elevated Barrett’s ability to produce meaningful songs to a level that can also absolutely rock in the process. - Luciano Ferrara, The Alternative