Atwood Magazine is thrilled to present our Editor's Picks column, crafted and curated by Editor-in-Chief Mitch Mosk. Each week, Mitch will introduce a selection of songs, albums, and artists that have captivated his senses and emotions. There’s an abundance of amazing music out there, just waiting to be explored, and all we need is an open mind and a willingness to listen. Through our Editor's Picks, we aim to highlight our music discoveries and feature a rich variety of new and recent releases. This week's selections include Bartees Strange, Spanish Love Songs, Dijon, Deadbeat Girl, Dutch Interior, and mildred!
**Shy Bairns Get Nowt by Bartees Strange**
This winter, Bartees Strange radiates a unique heat – a quiet, smoldering intensity that subtly seeps into your being. Shy Bairns Get Nowt feels like a small reckoning in EP form, with its transformation particularly evident in its opening and closing tracks: the brooding "BTNY" and the soulful release of "Ain’t Nobody Making Me High." It’s striking to hear how deeply Strange immerses himself in emotions here. Following the artistic maximalism and emotional weight of Horror – a record that eclipsed much of 2025 – these six songs feel vulnerable and raw. Each track reaches for the light not through force but through authenticity. As the year winds down, I can't think of a more impactful conclusion for him to leave us with.
"BTNY" begins the EP with a low-burning confession, soft yet smoky, heavy with nostalgia and the weight of unfulfilled love. His voice remains close to the mic – soft, yearning, yet resolute – as he navigates themes of lineage, heartbreak, and the lingering echoes of our choices. Are we, ultimately, the ghosts of our parents? The question hangs in the air like mist. “The song just feels true,” Strange remarks to Atwood Magazine. “In my life, I’ve experienced love and lost it. More than once… But there’s significance to the legacy of love in one’s life. Your loves, the love you experienced through your parents, the patterns and traumas connected to it all.”
You can sense that truth in every breath. "BTNY" is gentle yet never trivial; it carries the quiet devastation of hindsight – of realizing too late, of yearning deeply, of shouldering emotional inheritances you never expected. It’s a remarkable start, a song that simmers rather than explodes.
Conversely, "Ain’t Nobody Making Me High" sees Strange fully embracing his soulful side – unfiltered, exposed, and radiating warmth. This is his most soulful moment yet, a modern bluesman cutting straight to the essence with a voice that enchants, churns, and energizes simultaneously. The groove feels classic and ageless; his delivery is pure emotion. Every ache, truth, and hard-earned lesson resonates clearly.
He penned it from a deeply personal perspective: “I wanted to write something about my life. Sort of the narrative of a modern black traveler or blues musician,” he shares. “It felt gratifying to write something that represents where I am in this stage of my life.”
You can feel that depth – not as a burden, but as maturity. A sense of groundedness. A man reflecting on his life.
Collaborating with Hovvdy, Tamara Hope, and Tommy King, the song came together swiftly and organically. “Horror is very produced with bells and embellishments everywhere,” Strange explains. “This is more straightforward. It is what it is. Songs that are direct and to the point.”
That transparency is the magic: Stripped of production flair, Strange allows his voice and lyrics to convey the intensity. And they do so effortlessly.
What ultimately links Shy Bairns Get Nowt together is what it signifies for him. These tracks were not intended to remain idle on a hard drive; they were created to mark a transition. “With these songs, I felt they contained something special that I hadn’t quite done before,” he confides, “and it felt crucial for them to be released sooner rather than later. Perhaps to indicate that I’m already thinking in a new direction.”
He’s clear about his intention: “I believe this is the moment in my ‘legacy’ where I transition into something new. Something that’s solely and authentically me. Not perfect, just Bartees. Good enough.” There is such beauty in that honesty. These songs don’t pretend or perform. They don’t aspire for grandeur. They sound like a person relinquishing the last remnants of expectation and stepping fully into themselves.
“BTNY” embodies the smoke and recollections; “Ain’t Nobody Making Me High” embodies the soul and confidence. Together, they structure an EP that feels like a pivotal moment – a threshold Strange crosses with grace, strength
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This week's Editor's Picks, curated by Mitch Mosk, showcases tracks from Bartees Strange, Spanish Love Songs, Dijon, Deadbeat Girl, Dutch Interior, and mildred!