Bolted (album)

Bolted is the third studio album by British electronic music artist Forest Swords. It was released on 20 October 2023 through Ninja Tune. The album is his first studio release in over six years, following Compassion (2017).

Background and singles
Before he began working on the record, the musician spent a few years writing music for ballets, films and video games. Barnes recorded the album from 2022 to 2023 at a warehouse factory space in his hometown Liverpool. While putting the record together, he was coping with "psychedelic amounts of pain" from a leg injury. Barnes announced the project on 5 September 2023. He is set to embark on a tour through Europe promoting the album in November 2023.

His first single in five years titled "Butterfly Effect" was released on 11 July 2023. It features a previously unreleased vocal sample of Swedish-British singer Neneh Cherry. The song arrived with a b-side called "Tar". The second single, "The Low", was originally intended for American singer Yoko Ono and combines elements of both the start and the end of the album. It wraps up the main sentiments he had when writing for the record. An accompanying music video directed by Sam Wiehl elaborates on the visual direction of the record.

Reviews
The album has received strong reviews including 9/10 from The Line Of Best Fit website, 82% from Beats Per Minute website, a review calling it "absolutely phenomenal" by The Quietus, 4/5 from Mojo, 4/5 from All Music and a review stating the album has "an undeniable sense of grandeur that will take your breathe away" from Electronic Sound.

Personnel

 * Matthew Barnes – production, mixing, art direction
 * Matt Colton – mastering