Black Noise

‘Jazz’ might not be the right qualifier for a musician with the breadth and scope of Quinton Barnes, but given the plasticity of the idiom, it’s as good as any. And, while The Keepers of the Jazz Flame sometimes seem more obsessed with preserving the musical form in aspic, the melting pot of styles and forms that make up modern jazz incorporates a broad spread of styles, concepts and ideas that challenge the siloed thinking. So, for every ‘Jazz died with John Coltrane’ purist, there’s a Sons of Kemet. For every person who thinks everything after Kind of Blue or Head Hunters is a footnote, there’s a fan of Data Lords or Speak To Me. In this setting, someone as multi-talented and as difficult to categorise as Quinton Barnes fits right in!

Quinton Barnes is a Montreal-based musician whose innovative fusion of R&B, hip-hop and electronic music has garnered significant acclaim in the Canadian music scene. Barnes began his musical journey by experimenting with home recordings and distributing self-made CDs to major labels during his teenage years before releasing his debut album, Aarupa, in 2020. The album received notable recognition, being featured as Bandcamp Daily’s ‘Album of the Day’ on March 23, 2020, and later included in their roundup of the best albums of Winter 2020 – if you want to investigate his back catalogue, Bandcamp is the place to go. 

Following this, Barnes released As a Motherf**ker in January 2021, an album that delved deeper into his personal experiences and showcased his ability to blend trunk-rattling beats with impassioned vocals. His music during this period was characterised by a unique mix of industrial R&B, drawing inspiration from artists like Autechre and Prince.

In 2022, Barnes released For the Love of Drugs, departing from his earlier work and embracing the more aggressive and chaotic style that has now become his signature. 2024’s Have Mercy on Me was completed in just three weeks, showcasing his new, rawer, more vulnerable style. 

Continuing his prolific output, Barnes released CODE NOIR at the start of 2025, which makes it even more surprising that just a few months later, we have Black Noise. 

Produced by Michael Cloud Duguay (of Scions, whom we reviewed a few issues back) and released June 6 on Watch That Ends The Night Records, Black Noise is a truly exceptional album. 

Recorded just days after Donald Trump’s re-election, the album broadly interrogates the role of black sound within the world. It looks at blackness itself as an avant-garde formation and how that can be explored artistically in the context of noise and improvisation. To do this, Barnes adopted an entirely new creation method, building lush, chaotic arrangements out of a suite of Eurocentric classical piano pieces composed by local pianist Edward Enman, which Barnes and his collaborators then deconstructed and reassembled.

The album begins with noise – get used to it; there is a lot of noise to come, all beautifully judged and perfectly pitched. This noise develops into violin, drums, guitar and gut-thumping bass, while Barnes delivers what you soon realise is his signature rap style over the top, occasionally giving way to his soulful singing. It’s a mind-blowing start that sets you up for the next 35 minutes of joy. 

There are many highlights here, but the nine-minute epic centrepiece of ‘Black Orpheus’ is an absolute standout. Spine-chilling strings and menacing percussion create the perfect backdrop for Barnes’ dramatic, intense delivery. 

The closing ‘Movement 7’ is a thing of beauty, a plaintive, beautiful vocal over a single piano, which over its four-minute duration becomes overwhelmed by ever-growing, increasingly discordant noise – which is as good a metaphor for life in general and this album in particular as we can imagine.

This was one of the most exciting releases of 2025! 

Quinton Barnes Bandcamp

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