Mark Barrott: Sketches from an Island 2

The ultimate document of the 2010s Balearic revival

I’ve been out-of-order for almost two weeks.

Some nasty virus took control of my respiratory system, now my body had to summon all available power to get rid of it. The only task ahead was getting better. There was nothing else to achieve.

For the first week of my illness, I couldn’t listen to any music at all.

In the second week, I started quietly playing some lowercase ambient music; unintrusive sounds that felt soothing but not too demanding.

Then I stumbled across an interview with music producer Mark Barrott in

Andy Beta

’s Substack newsletter which touched me deeply.

In that interview, Barrott talks at length about how his new album was influenced by the experience of losing his wife Sara to cancer. I’ve enjoyed his music for years; I made a mental note to check out his new work as soon as I feel better.

For now, I want to revisit an essential Barrott album from 2016, a record that has become musical comfort food to me: Sketches from an Island 2.