Barbara Is the Denver Indie Band You Need to Know About

After much anticipation, the Denver indie band Barbara will release its sophomore album, SO THIS IS LIVING, on Friday, April 4, a follow-up to its 2022 debut, Escape Artist. But even if you weren't wrapped up in excitement, you’d still never guess what inspired the new album's title and accompanying track.

Hint: “Me hoy minoy!”

“Sometimes the way I go about lyrics is I’ll just say a little subject, like, ‘What if this one was about DoodleBob from SpongeBob?’ Like, what it felt like when he came off a piece of paper,” explains bassist Bridget Hartman, referencing an episode when SpongeBob SquarePants' self-portrait doodle comes to life. “SO THIS IS LIVING was a phrase that came from us exploring what it felt like to be him in that moment.”

It’s an oddly philosophical question, the more you think about it: Would DoodleBob erase himself out of existence, or would he thrive in today's current chaos? It started as a lighthearted idea, but the indie-psych trio — which includes vocalist-guitarist Camilla Vaitaitis and drummer Anna Panella — eventually decided that the contemplative line also reflects how the group feels after five years.

“I think it encompasses the next phase of this selection of music versus the first one,” Hartman muses.

The nine songs that comprise SO THIS IS LIVING are laced with both rose-colored nostalgia and coming-of-age themes, something Barbara initially touched upon with Escape Artist, which gave us the Freaks and Geeks-inspired hit, “Houdini” (the line “This is how Houdini died” is a direct quote from “geek” character Bill Haverchuck, who quips his appendix might have burst after getting hit with a dodgeball).

The new singles “Dark Water Disco” and “My Birthday Party” also showcase a more mature sound, as Barbara is comfortable navigating everything from simmering slowcore to bodacious Brazilian bossa-nova.

“We are all really obsessed with Brazilian music. In the studio, we experimented with using nylon-string guitar and upright bass as textures that brought that sound out even more,” Vaitaitis says, adding how percussionist Raul Sanchez helped in that department, as well. “It was brand new for us, because everything was electric before.”

Hear the whole album for yourself on Saturday, April 5, at the hi-dive release show. Local acts the Milk Blossoms and Flutter are also on the bill, while Denver visual artist Cosmic Dommy will add to the ambiance with his tripped-out projections.
“I think people are going to be a little shocked by how different it is from the first album because it’s got a lot more depth to it,” Vaitaitis shares.

SO THIS IS LIVING felt more intentional, too. The three bandmates were roommates when they formed Barbara back in 2020 and wrote Escape Artist, but have since settled into their own homes, so the dynamic naturally changed. “When we’re together and it’s writing time, it’s concentrated writing time rather than just hanging-out-in-the-basement-and-see-what-happens time,” Vaitaitis says. “It’s a new balance.”

That meant songs had more time to be fleshed out and reflect the personality of each member. For example, “y r u here?” is a “direct call out of your internal anxiety,” according to Vaitaitis.

“Like, I get that you’re here to protect me, but it’s not really helping me,” she says. “It’s something I especially deal with —  really bad anxiety — so that song was kind of healing.”

“My Birthday Party,” on the other hand, is about “recognizing aging, but loving the feeling of nostalgia so much and wanting to climb into a little nostalgia box and sit in there for a while when you’re feeling yucky,” Vaitaitis continues.

Hartman recalls how the line, “My face in the frosting looks alive,” in “My Birthday Party” came up after reminiscing about her sixth birthday party at a roller rink. “I was clearly remembering this one birthday party I had with my best friend when we were turning six and our parents had a photo of us on the cake. It was a vague memory of that,” she says, adding that she questioned her memory's authenticity at first, but a picture taken that day confirmed it.

“I texted my mom, and within five minutes, she sent me the photo of the face in the frosting. That memory was real,” Hartman continues. “That was a fun feeling to relive, because you know how memories get fuzzy or you recreate them. It was cool to be like, 'That was clearly in my brain and that’s how I remembered it.'” She shared the pic on social media when the song was released.

For Panella, she points to “Tart Cherry” as one of her favorites from SO THIS IS LIVING. “It’s about crossing the Rubicon, making a decision that you can’t turn back from,” she explains. “The feeling leading right up to the decision — like telling someone how you feel, or saying something that you can’t take back and the feeling after doing that.”

That type of honey-drenched honesty hasn’t gone unnoticed by listeners either, and why Barbara has been called “Kurt Cobain, but pretty” (shout out to Steve, who works the door at Yacht Club, for that one). “That’s my favorite — like, grunge but pretty,” Vaitaitis says.

It’s music that moves you, too, for your own good.

“My friend Spencer said, ‘I listen to it when I want to feel something,’” Panella adds.

Such sentiments prove Barbara has tapped into something that can’t be erased.

“It means we’re connecting with people emotionally,” Panella concludes, “and it really does mean a lot to hear it.”

Barbara, with the Milk Blossoms and Flutter, 8 p.m. Saturday, April 5, hi-dive, 7 South Broadway. Tickets are $19.