Let It Hiss finds The Barr Brothers in remarkable form, delivering an album that feels both intimately familiar and refreshingly evolved. The Montreal-based duo has always excelled at crafting atmospheric folk that exists somewhere between a front porch sing-along and a raucous fever dream, and their latest offering leans confidently into that liminal space. Following the idea of “Let it Hiss,” named after a guitar pedal freak-out hissing sounds, there isn’t a boring song on this thing. Queens of the Breakers (2017) is the last time we got a full record from the brothers, and it’s a tough album to follow, but The Barr Brothers have done it with this comeback, and then some.
From the opening moments of “Take it From Me,” Let It Hiss has a palpable sense of liberation. The production breathes with an organic warmth that allows each instrument room to speak—Brad’s guitar work remains as inventive as ever, weaving between delicate fingerpicking and unexpected electric tangents, while Andrew’s percussion provides a restless, jazz-inflected heartbeat throughout.
As always, the instrumentation elevates the standard folk vibe, adding layers of texture that shimmer and dissolve like morning mist. The songs themselves refuse to behave like songs. They’re more like rooms you suddenly find yourself inside, each one furnished with the debris of half-remembered dreams, like on “English Harbour,” featuring the high falsettos of, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.
Let It Hiss embraces its title like a mantra, a permission slip to let the static become the signal. If you need more reassurance, just listen to the inventive song structure of the poppiest indie banger, “Run Right Into It,” featuring Land of Talk. A great album for the true heads and listeners just discovering this new and invigorated version of The Barr Brothers.
