Quinton Barnes – Sober for the Weekend

Following the raw emotional depth of “Movement 7”, Montreal-based experimental artist Quinton Barnes shared his bold and unpredictable new single “Sober for the Weekend”, the second release from his upcoming album Black Noise, out June 6th via Watch That Ends The Night.

Both “Movement 7” and “Sober for the Weekend” draw from the same source – a classical suite by pianist Edward Enman – but they couldn’t be more different in tone. Where “Movement 7” used Enman’s piano untouched beneath Barnes’ stirring vocals, evoking vulnerability and emotional weight, “Sober for the Weekend” explodes that foundation into something sassier, cheekier, and far more volatile. The piano is dissected, repurposed, and surrounded by spiralling avant-garde jazz, woodwind noise, and minimalist orchestral textures.

While “Sober for the Weekend” builds on the vocal flow of earlier work like “Fuck Alive” from Barnes 2022 album For the Love of Drugs its production takes a new turn – raw, spacious, and tactile, filled with erratic bursts and sudden silences. Working closely with drummer Lucas Huang, Barnes constructs a relentless breakbeat-driven structure, counterbalancing tight, restrained verses with chaotic, escalating choruses. Producer Michael Cloud Duguay conducted the ensemble live in studio, lending the track an urgent, improvised energy.

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