Barry Can’t Swim has come in at Number Three on the BBC Sound of 2025 shortlist – check out the video below.
The Scottish electronic producer and DJ (real name Joshua Mainnie) was first featured on the longlist for this year’s prize alongside the likes of Chappell Roan, Kneecap and Ezra Collective.
As is customary, the names on the list were chosen by a panel of 180 music industry experts, who selected the acts with “the best chance of mainstream success” in the next 12 months.
This Monday (January 6) saw the BBC begin a day-by-day countdown of the top five Sound Of 2025 artists. English Teacher came in at Number Five before Myles Smith took the Number Four position.
Today (January 8), Barry Can’t Swim bagged the Number Three title following a hugely successful 2024.
“It’s been a bit of a mad journey, to be honest,” he told BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders of securing a top three spot. “You guys have been there properly since day one, right from Introducing. So yeah, man – it feels good.”
Barry Can’t Swim then looked back on his origins, recalling how he had started playing piano when he was about 10 years old. “From there, I started playing in bands. I sort of taught myself guitar and drums,” he explained.
“I was playing in bands at school – more kind of indie stuff than electronic. And then my earliest kind of producing came from clubbing, really, and going out, and just falling in love with dance music that way.”
He concluded: “So it’s kind of a natural progression from bands to electronic music.” You can watch the interview clip above.
Barry Can’t Swim earned a nomination at last year’s BRIT Awards in the Best Dance Act category, but ultimately lost out to Calvin Harris. His 2023 debut album ‘When Will We Land?’ was also shortlisted for the 2024 Mercury Prize. However, this ended up going to English Teacher’s acclaimed first record ‘This Could Be Texas’.
‘When Will We Land?’ won the BBC Radio 1 Dance Award for Best Album last February, and went in at Number 12 on the official UK albums chart.
Additionally, Barry Can’t Swim made appearances at last year’s editions of Glastonbury Festival and Coachella. He is set to achieve festival headliner status this August when he tops the bill at All Points East in London.
Barry Can’t Swim performs live. CREDIT: Gus Stewart/Redferns/Getty
The DJ will play at numerous European festivals in 2025 too, such as Nos Alive in Portugal and Rock Werchter in Belgium. Other dates are scheduled in Australia, New Zealand, North America and South America.
Barry Can’t Swim played three headline shows at London’s O2 Academy Brixton last November, ahead of two sold-out gigs at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.
The BBC Sound of 2025 shortlist countdown is due to reveal its Number Two act tomorrow (January 9), before announcing the overall winner on Friday (10). See the full longlist here, along with a selection of fan reactions.
Critics of this year’s longlist have suggested that some of the chosen artists – such as Chappell Roan – are already too established to be considered a “rising” act. This came after new rules were implemented for the Sound Of 2025.
When asked about the change to the system, a BBC Radio 1 spokesperson told NME: “The Sound Of list has a strong track record of predicting future superstars and we periodically review the criteria to better reflect how audiences consume music.”
Roan landed a UK Number One album in August, won the Best New Artist prize at the MTV VMAs the following month, and earned six nominations at the Grammys 2025. She was announced as a headliner of next year’s Reading & Leeds last month.
Meanwhile, Barry Can’t Swim will be joined by Confidence Man, Shygirl and many more at his All Points East 2025 show.
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