Joshua Spence Mainnie (born 1991 or 1992), known professionally as Barry Can't Swim, is a Scottish electronic music producer and DJ from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. His debut album '' When Will We Land?'' was released on 20 October 2023, being shortlisted for the 2024

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

and featuring in numerous critics end of year lists. He was nominated for Best Dance Act at the

2024 Brit Awards The Brit Awards 2024 was the 44th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and was held on Saturday 2 March 2024 at The O2 Arena in London. The ceremony returned to a weekend due to successful viewersh ...

Career

Barry Can't Swim released his debut EP, ''Amor Fati'', through Shall Not Fade in July 2021, and followed this up in 2022 with ''More Content'' via Technicolour Records, a

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1990 by musicians Matt Black and Jonathan More, known collectively as Coldcut. The label was established as an outlet for Col ...

imprint. He released his debut full-length album, '' When Will We Land?'' on 20 October 2023 via

. The album charted at #12 in the

UK Albums Charts The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official ...

, winning

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's award for "Best Dance Album", and receiving acclaim from critics. '' Clash'' rated the album 9 out of 10, describing it as "varied, zeitgeisty and just plain fun", highlighting its "astonishing" attention to detail. ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' ranked it as the best electronic album of 2023, calling it a "tour-de-force of 11 tracks that are so perfectly edited and composed that not a single note is wasted." The album was cited as one of the best albums of 2023 by ''

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'', '' Clash'', ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'', ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

'' and ''

''. His second album ''

Loner A loner is a person described as not seeking out, actively avoiding, or failing to maintain interpersonal relationships. There are many potential causes for this solitude. Intentional causes include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, reli ...

'' released on 11th July 2025 via

. It featured standout singles such as 'Still Riding' and 'Kimpton' (ft. O'Flynn) - the latter being described in a 4* album review by

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

as "a classic rather than something derivative". Mainnie reflected on his latest body of work, saying: "If my first album was a collage of all the music I loved and was inspired by growing up, then this album is the most authentic expression I could offer of myself and my life over the last year". An eclectic 11-track LP,

said "The sonic ground covered across the LP's structure is immense, but perhaps what makes ''Loner'' feel ever-more important is that it plays back like a stage of life well-lived — often joyous, intermittently chaotic and transformative to boot. In the end, the picture it paints is one of undeniable beauty". The Times highlighted Mainnie's "way of injecting character and fun into the frequently serious world of electronic music" -

Clash Magazine ''Clash'' is a music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published four times a year by Music Republic Ltd, whose predecessor Clash Music Ltd went into liquidation. The magazine won awards including the Best New M ...

concurred, calling ''

'' "A gorgeous and varied album that will surely soundtrack countless summers". On review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the album received 84 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". In December 2023, he won the ''

'' 'Breakthrough Producer' award. In January 2024, it was announced that he would be performing at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

2024. He also closed the weekend off in a surprise back to back DJ set with

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

at the Do Lab stage. In February 2024, he won the

Dance Award for 'Best Album' for ''When Will We Land?'' In July 2024, his debut album '' When Will We Land?'' was one of 12 shortlisted for the

. He identifies as more of a musician than a producer, emphasising a preference for crafting music using instruments.

Personal life

Mainnie attended St Thomas of Aquin's High School in Edinburgh, and went on to study music at

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

. Mainnie began music through piano at the age of nine, after his grandfather found a 'free to a good home' advert in the local paper. He is a supporter of

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a founding member of the Football Lea ...

Discography

Studio albums * '' When Will We Land?'' (2023) * ''

'' (2025) Extended plays * ''Amor Fati'' (2021) * ''More Content'' (2022)

References

{{reflist Ninja Tune artists Musicians from Edinburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Scottish electronic musicians Scottish producers