Alt-R&B singer Bryant Barnes navigates the painful side of love on his new single “Why Can’t You.”
In the melancholic ballad, Barnes contemplates reality of unrequited love and the glimmer of hope that his partner will stay to make it work.
“Here I am again, love / I hope you don’t mind, hope you don’t mind / ‘Cause I don’t wanna be alone for the rest of my life, yeah / And if you were to change your ways for me, I would cry,” he croons in verse two.
Barnes co-wrote and co-produced “Why Can’t You” with Andrew Luce. Speaking on the song’s creation, he shares, “I remember back in the day, I was looking for a bunch of beats, and I was struggling to find anything I liked. That night I had a dream that I’d met an artist and I didn’t really have music for them to hear, so when I woke up, I said, ‘Damn I gotta lock in.’”
He continues, “I started making a song from scratch and that was my first time doing that. It ended up being something I really liked! I decided to work on it in LA with Andrew Luce and make sure we finished it. That was over a year ago and we finally got it to where it’s at now. The song is, as most songs are, about one of the girls that I was talking to back in the day.”
“Why Can’t You” follows Barnes’ “Is This Love To You,” which was released in October 2024 via Mercury Records. Before that, in September, he teamed with fellow alternative artist d4vd for a remix of his song “I’d Rather Pretend.” The original track appears on Barnes’ debut EP, Vanity, which dropped in July of that year.
On Jan. 24, Barnes will join rapper 070 Shake on The Petrichor Tour as a special guest. He will play in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Toronto, Seattle and more before concluding Feb. 22 in Salt Lake City.
Stream Bryant Barnes’ new song “Why Can’t You” and check out his upcoming tour dates below.
Bryant Barnes 2025 Tour Dates
Jan 24 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Jan 25 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
Jan 27 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
Jan 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
Jan 29 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues Boston
Feb 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
Feb 4 – Montreal, Canada @ MTELUS
Feb 5 – Toronto, Canada @ HISTORY
Feb 8 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
Feb 13 – Vancouver, Canada @ Commodore Ballroom
Feb 14 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
Feb 15 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
Feb 16 – Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live Sacramento
Feb 19 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Feb 21 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
Feb 22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
Feb 23 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Feb 26 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Feb 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall
Get tickets at bryantbarnesmusic.com.