It's been eight years since Montreal's The Barr Brothers released a full-length album. In that time, life pulled them in new directions - personally and professionally - altering the way they make music together. Their fourth studio album, Let it Hiss, isn't just a new collection of songs. It's a document of transformation. The making of this record marked a pivotal shift: a pause for reflection, a reckoning with vulnerability, and a reconnection between the two brothers who've spent over three decades making music side by side. ‘In 2022, we found ourselves at a breaking point,’ says Brad Barr, the band's guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter. ‘It was clear something had to change.

Certainly, Let it Hiss foregrounds a sense of joyous abandon that wasn't as perceptible on previous Barr Brothers records-you can hear it in the open-road anthem ‘Run Right Into It’ (featuring Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell) and the playful garage-band reggae of ‘She Doesn't Sleep With the Covers On.’

But Let it Hiss doesn't completely abandon the intimate storytelling on which the Barrs' brand was built: ‘English Harbour’ is a gorgeous folk hymn illuminated by harmonies from former tour mate Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and ‘Moonbeam’ is a lush, string-swept soul serenade given an extra touch of class by a Francophone guest vocal from Quebecois artpop shapeshifter Klô Pelgag.

There's a timeless quality to the songwriting on Let it Hiss - evident on songs like ‘Naturally’, a quiet nod to the era of classic craftsmen, where melody and message were inseparable. To bring the album's rawness and intricacy into focus, the band turned to mix engineer Jon Low (The National, Taylor Swift, Bon Iver). They called on trusted friends from their wider musical community to lend voices, instruments, and textures when the songs called for it-collaborations that felt less like features and more like natural extensions of the music. Many of these relationships were built over years of shared stages, late-night sessions, and a mutual commitment to the craft. In this way, Let it Hiss stands as both their most personal and most collaborative record to date. Let it Hiss doesn't resolve so much as reveal. It invites listeners to lean in - to the hiss, the weight, the wonder. As the Barr Brothers move forward, one thing is clear: they've found each other again and in doing so they found their way back to the music.

A1. Take It From Me
A2. Let It Hiss
A3. English Harbour
A4. Run Right Into It
A5. Moonbeam
B1. She Doesn't Sleep With The Covers On
B2. Naturally
B3. Owning Up To Everyone
B4. Another Tangerine
B5. Upsetter