With 29 Summers Later, Istanbul-based musician and songwriter Han Eryılmaz, the artist behind Barista, offers a thoughtful exploration of memory, loss, love and the search for hope in uncertain times. Released on September 3, 2026, the 16-track album brings together alternative rock, personal storytelling and social commentary, creating a musical experience shaped by both individual experiences and global concerns.
The sixth album from Barista reflects Eryılmaz’s continuing interest in the relationship between music and the world around us. While the record draws on personal memories and the emotional weight of losing people, it also addresses the suffering in Gaza and the danger of becoming desensitised to repeated images of tragedy. Rather than offering simple answers, the songs encourage listeners to remain attentive to human suffering and to preserve their capacity for empathy.
Balancing Difficult Realities with Personal Stories
Although the album confronts serious subjects, its emotional range extends well beyond grief and anger. Love songs, playful moments and bursts of melody sit alongside more reflective passages, presenting different sides of the human experience. For Eryılmaz, these contrasting emotions are connected. Tenderness, attraction and connection are not distractions from the world’s problems, but reminders of what makes life meaningful.
The title 29 Summers Later carries a personal significance for the songwriter, marking a moment of reflection on time, memory and those who are no longer present. This sense of looking backward while trying to understand the present runs throughout the project.
Eryılmaz’s approach also considers the influence of modern media and entertainment, particularly how disturbing events can become routine content. The album reflects a desire to resist that numbness by continuing to remember, question and care.
A Collaborative, Performance-Led Sound
Musically, 29 Summers Later moves between urgent full-band rock, intimate vocal performances, melodic passages and acoustic reflection. The album was co-produced by longtime collaborators Simon Phillips and Jesse Siebenberg, with bassist Ernest Tibbs contributing to the project.
Its sound features live drums, driving bass, analog keyboards and musicians responding to one another in real time. Different singers appear across the record, allowing individual songs to develop their own voices while maintaining a shared emotional direction.
A notable element of the release is its entirely human-made production. Eryılmaz has stated that the music is AI-free, with the songs written, played, sung and recorded by people. This emphasis on performance and human collaboration complements the album’s central themes of emotional connection and shared experience.
Building on Barista’s Musical Legacy
Across six albums, Barista has developed a body of work combining melodic alternative rock with personal reflection and social awareness. Earlier releases include the five-volume Open Sesame project, Justice Now and Goodbye Heaven. The wider catalogue features collaborations with musicians including Nathan East, Philippe Saisse, Bob Glaub, Reggie Hamilton and Lenny Castro.
With 29 Summers Later, Han Eryılmaz continues that creative direction while bringing questions of memory, responsibility and hope into sharper focus. The album invites listeners to connect its stories with their own experiences, allowing personal interpretations to become part of the music.
Ultimately, the record’s message is not that hope removes suffering, but that people can continue to find meaning through connection, tenderness and remembrance. Through Barista, Eryılmaz presents an alternative-rock album that acknowledges the world’s difficulties while insisting that caring about others remains an essential human choice.
Listen here.