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Anton Barbeau — Come Home to Me
(Think Like a Key TLAK, 2026, CD / LP / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2026-10-02

Come Home to Me Cover art

We've been following Anton Barbeau here at Exposé since his appearance on Fruits de Mer Records in 2012 with the 7-inch single Psychedelic Mynde of Moses. Since then, he has become one of the most prolific figures in contemporary psychedelic pop, issuing more than forty albums while building a devoted following that seems far stronger in Britain than in his native California. After several releases for Fruits de Mer, Barbeau found a home on Roger Houdaille's Think Like a Key label, which now presents Come Home to Me. Following the ambitious Dark Mystery Temple trilogy, comprising Glitch Wizard, Dig the Light, and Klaust, Barbeau turns away from overarching concepts and returns to a more straightforward celebration of psychedelic pop with this release. Rather than pursuing a grand concept, Barbeau simply follows his muse through fourteen eclectic songs that draw on psychedelic pop, New Wave, experimental collage, and occasional bursts of funk. The result is unmistakably Anton Barbeau: quirky, inventive, and remarkably British-sounding for an artist based in Sacramento. Among the highlights are "Your Holy Motor," propelled by doubled guitars, female backing vocals, and a contagious groove; "The City Below," which shifts through several moods while balancing lo-fi keyboard textures with extended instrumental passages; and "Under the Radar," an experimental excursion where fragments of Japanese and British voices drift through an acoustic framework. The title track is one of the album's most immediate pleasures, its playful "yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain evoking a distant Beatles influence without sounding derivative. Barbeau's surrealist streak remains fully intact. "I Touched the Butter" may have the album's most delightfully absurd lyric, while "Swindon Calling" closes in a haze of Mellotron-drenched psychedelia that recalls the English eccentricity running throughout much of his catalog. Contributing to the richness of the album are appearances from an impressive cast including Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory of XTC, Andy Metcalfe, Donald Ross Skinner, and several longtime Barbeau collaborators. At a point in his career when many artists would be repeating themselves, Barbeau continues to explore new corners of his musical imagination. Come Home to Me offers fourteen new studio tracks, plus an unlisted alternate version of "World Calls Love," and serves as further evidence that his seemingly endless creative streak remains undiminished.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Anton Barbeau

More info
http://antonbarbeau.bandcamp.com/album/come-home-to-me

 

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