“Angelina” by Christian Barnett

Somewhere in the making of i, Christian Barnett found himself running bits of the songs through a pocket cassette recorder, then through a chain of delays, then back into the mix and burying it. Call it boredom or call it madness, but that impulse is all over his debut album: restless, shape-shifting collection of songs with something dark and strange humming underneath.

The songs wander across folk, alternative and '60s pop influences. His writing pairs a dry sense of humor with a touch of melancholy, each song feeling half biographical and half dream. "Hot House Flower" sounds like Fleetwood Mac and Lou Reed sharing a writing credit. The closing track, "All I Need," makes its peace with getting older and starting a family, landing on the line "I'm not who I thought I'd be, but all I have is all I need."

Barnett grew up in Nashville, where his father, a drummer, taught him to play and encouraged his songwriting. He studied music in college, then fronted the band Blonde Bones from the mid-2010s to the mid-2020s, releasing two albums and touring all over the Southeast.

Inspired by the hands-on approach of artists like Andy Shauf and Mac DeMarco, he collected some used gear and set out to teach himself how to make a record. After a year of home recording, trips to work with friends in Los Angeles and Tennessee, and a lot of trial and error, he had i. Co-producer Ross Mayfield helped shape the arrangements, and his mixes give the whole album a lush, brooding sound. The result is a restless, shape-shifting collection of songs about loneliness, distance and contemplation.