What will you remember when you look back at this album?

I think that… I think it really was inspired by the commercial backlash when I was getting a lot of backlash from the Outback Steakhouse commercial. I think it did influence me as far as like “I’ll show them I’m not a sell-out. I’ll show them how talented I am…. I can’t be marginalized. I have a lot of value”

I’d never had to deal with that before because we were always so underground. It was a weird thing to face. You can only have backlash if you have success and we’d never really had success, so I’d never had to deal with backlash. So I definitely think that played a part psychologically in the making of the record.

Barnes says "Beware Our Nubile Miscreants" is "the most wicked thing I've ever written," while opener "Nonpareil of Favor" "definitely goes somewhere musically that is totally unlike anything I've ever done before."

For Barnes, delving into deeply personal topics has become something of a therapeutic outlet. "I start to feel unbalanced if too much time passes without me being able to record," he says. "I need to shut out the world and disappear into the void. In a way it is like meditation. It definitely gives me a sense of value too. Even if other people hate what I create, as long as I like it, I'm fine. The new record doesn't deal with as many romantic or psychological issues. It is a very personal record still. It is more sexual and frisky than 'Hissing.'" [Read More]

i've finished the new album. i've been working on it for over a year. it's mastered and ready to go.

it won't come out till october though. i am very happy with it. i worry that some people are going to misunderstand it. there's nothing i can do about that though, now, it is done. anyways,i didn't create it to give people something to like. i created it because i was compelled to.