The Barr Brothers Welcome Jim James and Arc Iris for “English Harbour,” Previewing Reunion Album ‘Let It Hiss’

Rob Moderelli on August 21, 2025

The Barr Brothers, photo by Lauren Kallen

The Barr Brothers have shared “English Harbour,” the third single from their long-awaited revival project Let It Hiss. Due to arrive on Oct. 17 via Secret City Records, the folk duo of Andrew and Brad Barr’s fourth studio album is their first since 2017’s Queens of the Breakers and a record of the long process of embracing vulnerability, honesty and personal transformation that allowed the brothers to create together again. For their latest preview, the brothers called on old friends Jim James and Arc Iris to lend their voices to a powerful story of reminiscence.

“English Harbour” is a shimmering reflection on moments made divine as they pass into memory and the pull of old attachments. From a foundation in Brad’s acoustic strum and tender vocals and a subtle patter of percussion and resonant piano chords from Andrew, the song soars with a mighty gust of intertwined harmony vocals from My Morning Jacket frontman James and Arc Iris’ Jocie Adams. In its warm and wistful movement from hopeful yearning to acceptance of love’s complexity, The Barr Brothers’ latest preview is yet another testament to their gift for nuanced and impactful storytelling.

“We’d been imagining Jim’s soaring voice on the song’s opening melody for a while,” Andrew reflected on the origins of the collaboration in a release. “One afternoon around 4 p.m., we sent it to him before heading out to pick up our kids. By the time we got home that night, he’d sent back not only the opening melody but a fully harmonized performance from start to finish. It was one of those hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck moments in the life of this record. I loved the song from the moment Brad first played it for me, but Jim’s voice brings a whole new energy to it.”

“Something cool and interesting that happened while recording English Harbour—we imagined both Jim James and Jocie Adams(Arc Iris) singing on this one,” Brad echoed. “We had befriended Jim when our band The Slip opened for My Morning Jacket in 2007, and opened for them again with The Barr Brothers around 2015. And we’ve loved Jocie’s singing and arranging instincts since we toured with her old band The Low Anthem. The night we had the idea to invite them, we wrote to them both separately to ask if they’d be interested and available to sing on this song and they randomly happened to be eating dinner together at Jocie’s house in LA. Crazy serendipity! The two of them make this song so magical.”

Let It Hiss was recorded and produced by Andrew and Brad Barr from their Montreal studio with mixing from engineer Jon Low. The duo’s long-awaited return is available to pre-order and pre-save now. Listen to “English Harbour” below, and learn more about The Barr Brothers at thebarrbrothers.com.

Read on for the album’s full tracklist.