Barbarossa Beat Returns With Second Single Brass Climate Featuring The Funky Ginger

Barbarossa Beat, the new singles club project from drummer Dave Barbarossa, returns tomorrow (October 9) with its second track, Brass Climate. The single features The Funky Ginger and arrives via Invisible Hands Music/Virgin Music Group.

For anyone who grew up with punk and new wave, Dave needs little introduction. He was the drummer in the original line-up of Adam & The Ants, went on to power Bow Wow Wow through hits like Go Wild In The Country and I Want Candy, and later kept time for Republica.

Republica, of course, gave the 90s one of its defining anthems in Ready To Go, so Dave’s playing has been part of more than one generation of British music.

His work stretches well beyond those bands too. Over the years he has played with Fatboy Slim, Chicane and Roland Gift, as well as Chime Oblivion, the Oh Sees offshoot.

Barbarossa Beat puts that drumming front and centre. Each track is built around Dave’s playing and created with a different collaborator, with a new release dropping once a month into 2027.

That makes the collaborator the moving part. Each month brings a new voice into the room, while Dave’s drums remain the constant that ties the whole series together.

It’s billed as a modern day singles club, with an album planned further down the line. Rather than waiting for a full record, listeners get a fresh piece of the puzzle every month.

The idea has a proud history. Sub Pop’s Singles Club launched in 1988, and The Wedding Present famously put out a single every month throughout 1992. Barbarossa Beat brings that same sense of anticipation into the streaming age.

The project got off to a strong start. Debut single Phattie’s Lunchbox, featuring Mekon, picked up significant radio airplay, including plays on BBC Radio 6 Music and a host of US college stations.

That’s a strong response for a project that had only just introduced itself, and a clear sign there’s an audience keen to hear where Dave takes things next.

Brass Climate now takes the baton, pairing Dave with The Funky Ginger. The track leans into a loose, swinging feel, with Dave drawing on the sound of big band Latin rhythm sections.

Where Phattie’s Lunchbox set out the stall, Brass Climate shows how far the Barbarossa Beat concept can stretch, moving into jazzier territory while keeping the drums firmly in the spotlight.

He is quick to share the credit, though. “This is as much about Simon Law’s genius as my drumming,” he says. “He found a loop of my drumming and made it work.”

Dave also lifts the lid on how the part came together. “The drumming part is a jazzy, swingy thing with a paradiddle in it (somewhere!), the back beats are played on toms and snare. The swing ride part, occasionally on a floor tom.”

“I was inspired by big band latin rhythm sections, which I’ve boiled down to my four limbs – just trying to get an essence of the feel of it all.”

That knack for squeezing a whole rhythm section into one kit will ring a bell with Bow Wow Wow fans, whose tom-heavy, tribal-inspired grooves set the band apart in the early 1980s.

In fact, the variety of that era is exactly what sparked Barbarossa Beat. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done through the years but I never felt it expressed the diversity of my playing like it did in the early Ants and Bow Wow Wow,” Dave explains.

“In these collaborations, there are some real surprises along the way, and I am excited for people to see how this develops.”

The project places Dave at the hub of a spinning wheel of musical indulgence, marrying his unmistakable drumming style and passion with a true pick ‘n’ mix of musicians he has personally chosen to bring on board. With a different partner on every release, no two tracks are set to sound quite the same.

Brass Climate featuring The Funky Ginger is out on October 9 via Invisible Hands Music/Virgin Music Group, and you can pre-save the track now ahead of release.

With monthly releases planned into 2027, there’s plenty more to come from Barbarossa Beat. Keep an eye on MNPR Magazine for news of the next collaboration.