The new single comes from a place of anxiety, and it sounds like it. Strange explains that the song stems from his fretful feelings about his place in the music business, particularly the dreadful sense that there might be a ceiling on how much success he can achieve playing his brand of indie rock. When he looks around, he doesn’t see a lot of other Black artists among his peers.

“I worry people may have a hard time connecting to me because I don’t look/sound like them,” Strange puts forth in the press materials accompanying the song’s release. “That I’m fun to root for, but not actually supported. This song is about how much that worries me – fully understanding that a lot of these neurosis are of my own making.”

“Wants Needs” is keening and propulsive. It comes across a bit like Bob Mould crossed with TV on the Radio, which is a combo I’m not equipped to resist. Really, though, it sounds like music only Strange could make, with a dizzying number of indie subgenres swirled together.

Horror, the new album from Bartees Strange, is scheduled for release in February.