Mark Barrott - The Exit Diaries - LP

Seasoned sunset soundtrack label-owner, DJ, and composer, Mark Barrott, releases new album ‘The Exit Diaries’. A constant innovator and master of chillout music, ‘The Exit Diaries’ is a gorgeous, deluxe affair consisting of two long multi-part instrumental pieces, taking in soul, jazz, orchestral composition, electronica, and more.

Creating music under numerous aliases and projects for over three decades, Barrott has carved out an influential space in everything from early breakbeat futurism to Balearic folk, orchestral ambient to global electronica. He released his most personal record to date ‘Everything Changes, Nothing Ends’ in 2024, written in the wake of his wife Sara’s passing with whom he shared 25 years between Berlin and rural Ibiza. The album received widespread critical acclaim, including Pitchfork, Mojo, Uncut, RA and more, alongside BBC radio support from Mary Anne Hobbs, Elizabeth Alker and Hannah Peel. Over the years, Barrott has made drum’n’bass for hippies, turned 80s stars Tears For Fears ambient, put Uruguay on the electronic music map, lived off-grid in bandit country, soundtracked deluxe hotels worldwide, single handedly revived the Balearic music scene, and made his DJ residency in one of the most unique and stunning spots in the world a bucket-list destination – all powered by his endless creative ambition, but without ever once having had any semblance of an underlying plan. Now back living in his spiritual home, Ibiza, he’s lived a colourful life. “I’ve been around, and I’ve basically realised there’s five things that make me happy. There’s cats, there’s test match cricket, there’s Ibiza, there’s reading… and the fifth is making music.”

Determined to show that happiness, he based the first side of ‘The Exit Diaries’ - titled ‘Light Variations’ - on the concept of “Sunday tunes”, which followed his desire to try and make the perfect Sunday morning soundtrack. The soul, the Alice Coltrane, the gentle synth tunes; songs to let the morning sun slide across the wall as food smells fill the house. A series of musical meditations that slowly unfold with quiet elegance and lushly powered by the liquid drumming of Leo Taylor (The Invisible, Floating Points, Hot Chip), Barrott establishes himself as a maestro of melody and atmosphere.

The opulent grandeur of ‘When Devils Become Gods’ awakens side two, ‘The Stone Tape,’ resplendent in rich orchestral strings and poignant piano hook, while the ambient manifestations of ‘Quarries’ slowly unfolds like a new dawn day. Barrott has a natural mastery in transporting listeners to ethereal realms, crafting an atmosphere of calm and deep emotion. An air of anticipation and hope can be felt in the immersive soundscapes of ‘The Stone Cutter's Dilemma’ and ‘Land (iii),’ while the gentle rumblings of ‘Closer’ whisper new beginnings. This is cinematic music for sophisticated moods.

Side A :
1. Variation (i) / 2. Variation (ii) / 3. Variation (iii) / 4. Variation (iv) / 5. Variation (v) / 6. Variation (vi)

Side B :
1. When Devils Became Gods / 2. The Stone Cutter’s Dilemma / 3. Land (iii) / 4. Quarries / 5. Closer / 6. Homo Homini Lupus