Barry B: 2025 XTAR of the Year

This 2025, with the support of Kilian Paris and CUPRA, we have taken another step towards identifying the true icons of our community: figures who not only set trends, but challenge inertia and leave a clear mark on contemporary culture. The HIGHXTAR. XTAR of the Year Award does not simply recognise talent, but the ability to sustain an authentic identity in an environment where almost everything feels the same. And in that sense, the choice is obvious: Barry B is this year’s XTAR.

In his mid-twenties, Gabriel Barriuso – Barry B – has become one of the most distinctive presences in today’s scene. Coming from Aranda de Duero, a place seemingly far removed from the cultural industry, he has managed to carve out his own space in that territory between the independent and the mainstream— a space he himself has helped redefine. Very few cross that boundary without losing credibility; he has done so naturally, without renouncing the person he was before the spotlight arrived.

If anything has defined the new Spanish music of recent years, it is its tendency towards labels: urban, pop, indie, rock, experimental, cult, mainstream. In that compartmentalised landscape, Barry B has become an anomaly. He is listened to by pop fans, British-rock followers, kids from the urban scene, indie enthusiasts, and a general audience. It is a rare kind of cross-sectional appeal, especially for an artist still in the early chapters of his career.

His music contains that breadth. A single performance may include an acoustic ballad, a rock track with prominent guitars, or a piece tinged with electronic influences. This variety is not the result of strategic calculation, but of the deep musical curiosity that runs through his work: Barry B listens to everything, digests everything, and transforms everything. His songs work as ecosystems where references to ’90s britpop, the rawness of alternative rock, the cadence of trap, and a pop sensibility—present even when he doesn’t seem to be seeking it—coexist.

From CHATO to Infancia mal calibrada

This year’s recognition cannot be understood without looking at his recent discography. CHATO, his first studio album, was his calling card: a hybrid work, made with the impulsive freedom of someone who still has nothing to prove. A sequence of styles which, far from feeling scattered, revealed an identity in the making—a first sonic map in which his particular way of approaching emotion was already taking shape.

A year later came Infancia mal calibrada, an EP that consolidates his universe and marks a turning point. If CHATO was a container of impulses, Infancia mal calibrada is a more refined version of that identity. The work explores childhood, frustration, guilt, anxiety, and the importance of learning to live with one’s own wounds. Its production combines band-driven guitars, organic beats, and electronic layers that broaden his sonic palette without erasing his essence.

This project highlights one of the traits now considered central to his writing: the ability to turn the intimate into a shared feeling. The songs operate from a direct, almost spontaneous emotionality that resonates with a generation who find in his lyrics a recognisable mirror.

A live show that breathes sincerity

Barry B’s artistic maturity has become especially evident on stage. The three sold-out shows at La Riviera this year have been among the most decisive milestones of his recent career. What happens at his concerts is a space of collective catharsis where punk-leaning guitars, moments of absolute vulnerability, and an energy that seems to arise straight from his biography converge.

It has not been an easy path. His growth as a public figure has come with difficult internal decisions: changes within the band, the need to learn how to sustain a team from a role he never imagined himself in. This transition—the artist who stops being “one of many” and becomes the reference point of the project—is a fundamental part of this year’s narrative. Barry B has learnt to lead while touring, composing, and facing an ever-growing audience.

Leaving behind what no longer held him up

What makes Barry B’s evolution in 2025 particularly significant is not only his artistic growth, but the human context from which he operates. Until recently, he worked as a home-automation technician. Before that, he almost moved to Mexico in search of a job that had nothing to do with music. His life was defined by endless workdays, the repetitive rhythm of a small-town bar, and an environment that—without ill intent—pushes you towards an inertia that’s hard to break.

His leap into music was not the result of an epic gesture, but of a series of pragmatic decisions: leaving a job that prevented him from dedicating himself fully to his artistic project, abandoning self-destructive habits, creating emotional distance from environments that harmed him, reorganising his life with a discipline he never imagined he would need. The clarity with which he now views his past—without victimhood or dramatics—adds special weight to his present.

Collaborations, cross-genre impact, and legitimacy across scenes

Another factor behind his recognition this year is his ability to build bridges between very different musical worlds. In 2025, he strengthened collaborations that placed him both at the centre of the mainstream and at the forefront of the alternative. His track TRANKIS with Aitana brought him to the attention of an audience that did not necessarily gravitate around his music. His position in the rock scene, his connection with bands like Carolina Durante in Yo pensaba que me había tocado Dios, or with urban artists such as Recycled J, Rusowsky, and Marc Seguí… It is difficult to think of another recent Spanish artist who has articulated such coherence across so many scenes.

Barry B’s selection as the 2025 XTAR of the Year is not only due to his achievements—three sold-out Rivieras, a growing presence in cultural conversations, a solid EP, key collaborations, and the cross-scene respect of the industry—but also to something deeper: he embodies a generation’s sensitivity, one that values honesty above all else. He has turned vulnerability into a creative tool, made his own story a language, and shown that one can grow without renouncing the truth. This 3rd of December, with the support of Kilian Paris and CUPRA, we celebrate Barry B.

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