Bartees Strange Breaks Down His Indie-Rock Bona Fides on New Song ‘Cosigns’

Bartees Strange offers a glimpse at his ever-expanding indie rock Rolodex on his new song, “Cosigns,” the second offering from his next album, Farm to Table, set to arrive June 17 via 4AD.

“Cosigns” begins as a wholly unique bit of indie rap-rock, with Strange peeling off endlessly clever bars in which he namechecks his recent tour mates — Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Courtney Barnett — boasts about FaceTiming with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and even shouts out Martin Mills, the 72-year-old founder of 4AD’s parent company, Beggars Group (“I’m with Martin in the mill we grinding making bread”). Halfway through, however, the song switches gears as Strange ponders success, ambition, and fulfillment, bellowing, “How to be full, it’s the hardest to know/I keep consuming, I can’t give it up.”

“Cosigns” is accompanied by a music video, directed by Pooneh Ghana. The clip finds Strange holding court at the head of a table as a bunch of people prepare for a feast. When the covers of their dishes are finally lifted, they begin to gorge, although at that point Strange flees the table, dashing through the night and crawling through a tunnel of flowers. 

Back in March, Strange released “Heavy Heart,” which will also appear on Farm to Table (while the album will arrive digitally in June, vinyl and CD copies will drop in October). Farm to Table follows Strange’s celebrated 2020 debut, Live Forever, which landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Best Albums of that year.

Strange is set to return to the road this Friday, April 22, for the second leg of his tour opening for Car Seat Headrest. He has a handful of European shows scheduled throughout the summer, as well as several U.S. dates in August, including a stop on Courtney Barnett’s traveling “Here and There” festival.

Farm to Table Tracklist

1. “Heavy Heart”
2. “Mullholland Dr”
3. “Wretched”
4. “Cosigns”
5. “Tours”
6. “Hold the Line”
7. “We Were Only Close for Like Two Weeks”
8. “Escape This Circus”
9. “Black Gold”
10. “Hennessy”