The new single by Bill Barlow, When He Speaks, is something you cannot afford to miss. It is not background music and it draws you to it, makes you listen and even after the song is over, it stays with you. The song belongs to the 18-track album of Tampa singer known as The Bill Barlow Project, and it can be regarded as a definite shift in his musical orientation. His other songs were more contemplative and soft, whereas this one strikes with great aggression and an uncomfortable nature that is absolutely ideal.
The beat is very powerful and the electronic music is well built and cumulative. However, the words are the most striking. It hurts when Barlow starts singing such lines as Check the rating when he speaks, fact checkers think his stats are grey, as it is so real and up-to-date. The song is not attacking anyone in particular, it is about how we as listeners and news consumers are misled by news.
The uniqueness of the work by Barlow is that he does not attempt to explain everything and answer everything easily. The song brings on the issues and allows you to feel uneasy about them. This conflict together with his good storytelling abilities has made When He Speaks one of his best and most impactful songs so far.
Listen to “When He Speaks“ below
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What was the inspiration behind your latest single, “When He Speaks”?
Bill Barlow: The media creates popular figures. We buy into that. I wanted to take a step back and look at this from a birds eye view.
How does “When He Speaks” differ from your previous work?
Bill Barlow: When He Speaks is a bolder, more up-tempo song that was intended to be in your face, much like the lyrics. As writer who loves to convey emotions, this tune wouldn’t convey what I was saying lyrically unless it was loud and a little unsettling.
Can you walk us through the creative process of writing and producing this song?
Bill Barlow: I am inspired by real life situations. I see something that inspires me, and I get out my phone and start putting thoughts and lyrics together. Once I develop the full story (song), I work on different melodies that compliment or even enhance the lyrics. Then I’m off to my home studio where I start putting it all together.
What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from “When He Speaks”?
Bill Barlow: Even though When He Speaks is not about any one person specifically, all of us can identify with someone where the story fits. These kinds of speakers thrive on commentary, comments and social posts. The best way to rob them of their power is to ignore them completely. That is hard to do these days when we are encouraged to weigh in.
Did you face any challenges while making this single, and how did you overcome them?
Bill Barlow: Lyrically no. The words flowed easily on this one. Musically, I struggled a bit with the style. It had to be as much of the story as they lyrics and I found this one a little more difficult than many of my other work.
How do you feel your personal experiences influenced the lyrics and sound of the song?
Bill Barlow: I was watching television, and someone was about to come on to speak. There was this big build up and the reporter basically told us what we were about to hear.
Then we got the speech and finally another reporter told us what we heard and the real-time response. It’s a little absurd if you think about it, how much airtime is wasted every time this happens? It happens quite often in everything from new product releases, movies, politicians, even influencers.
What was it like working with any collaborators or producers on this track?
Bill Barlow: On this track I had to rely “collaborative muse” to get the right musical feeling. In most cases I know exactly what I want, and I can knock out tracks either alone or with my studio friends. Here I had to describe the mood and sit back and “audition” different vibes until we were all happy.
How do you see “When He Speaks” fitting into the overall direction of your music career?
Bill Barlow: This track along with many of the others on The Bill Barlow Project were my way of saying not to typecast me into a specific style. I write about emotions and to get that I need a broad scope of musical styles.
Are there any stories or meaningful moments connected to this song that you’d like to share?
Bill Barlow: Other than my inspiration, there is no specific public figure to address, no one event to point to, just that we as “consumers” of the media, allow ourselves to get caught up in the spin way more than we should.
What can your fans expect next after the release of “When He Speaks”?
Bill Barlow: I am planning a new album that should drop around the first of October. It’s called By Special Request. I have family, fans and friends that know songs that I haven’t released yet. I gave then the opportunity to select the track list. I put them together in a way that has an OG flow. Each track flows nicely into the next. It’s an album experience but each track stands on its own.
