Courtesy of Pat Carter
Pat Carter, a Berlin-based composer and music-maker, is back with a new release, “Barbed Wire,” the lead single from his 2025 solo debut album, “Love in the Time of Capitalism.” In a situation where connection often seems more transactional, Carter has delivered a song that’s both personal and fearlessly direct, an emotional sense pulled tight against the modern machine.
“Barbed Wire” takes stock of the loneliness capitalism has handed us and of how human relations are increasingly mediated by productivity and performance. With “Barbed Wire,” Carter makes this loneliness a battlefield, and softness a kind of rebellion.
Carter himself calls “Barbed Wire” a “radical act of connection,” and its lyrics make that point clear. The verses depict emotional survival in a world that constantly demands you toughen up. Still, the core of the song is a touching, lovely metaphor, defenselessness hiding in plain sight, love working its way in when the world would have it otherwise.
The music video completes the emotional narrative, doubling down on the effort to connect in a system that constantly blocks intimacy. “Barbed Wire” is not so much a song as a statement. Pat Carter is reaching for connection, delivering meekness as a purposeful, brave act of resistance.
Connect with Pat Carter on Instagram and Spotify
About the Author
The official music writer on Landon Buford.
