Music Review - Bill Barlow Gives Voice to the Chaos in “When He Speaks”

KMasters
13 minutes ago
2 min read

We'll be honest—when we first played Bill Barlow’s “When He Speaks,” we expected a straightforward electronic pop track. But it doesn’t really sit still in that lane. The beat is steady, the synths are layered, yet the message behind the words pulls your ear more than the production does at first. It feels like eavesdropping on a broadcast where every word is under a microscope.

The lyrics hit close to home. “Check the rating when he speaks, fact checkers think his stats are grey.” That line alone pretty much sums up how political talk and media spin blur together these days. It made us pause, not because it’s poetic in the usual sense, but because it feels uncomfortably real.

Musically, it’s not squeaky clean. There’s a bit of grit in the sound, which actually works in its favor. We kept waiting for it to smooth out, but it doesn’t—and that tension makes the track stick. It’s not background music; it’s the kind of song that wants your attention, even if it unsettles you a little.

By the time it finished, we're not sure if we had listened to a pop song or a commentary on the state of media, probably both and that’s the point. “When He Speaks” doesn’t tie everything up in a neat bow—it just leaves you thinking about how words get twisted once they’re out in the open.

You can give a listen to “When He Speaks” below and make sure you give a follow to stay tuned with Bill Barlow’s future releases