Red Barked Tree is the twelfth studio album by the English post-punk band Wire--digitally released on 20 December 2010, and as a CD on 10 January 2011 on the Pinkflag label.

[10][11] The Wire website pinkflag.com, announced that the first 2,000 mail order customers for Red Barked Tree would also receive a free copy of Strays-- a bonus EP featuring new studio recordings of the songs "Underwater Experiences", "He Knows", "German Shepherds" and "Boiling Boy".

[14] According to Lewis, the cover artwork by Jon Wozencroft based on a photograph showing a detail of an untitled work by Arte Povera artist Jannis Kounellis reflects the idea of alchemy as a quest for knowledge.

[14] A press release announcing the album stated that it "rekindles a lyricism sometimes absent from Wire's previous work and reconnects with the live energy of performance-- harnessed and channeled from extensive touring over the past few years."

Featuring songs that "range from the hymnal "Adapt" to the barking sledgehammer art-punk of "Two Minutes" the album encompasses the full palette of style and nuance that has always endeared Wire to pastel-tinged pop aficionados and bleeding-edge avant-rockers alike.

[11] "Red Barked Trees", the track that inspired the album title, was said by Lewis to be "about dismay and hope, and the wonder of technology versus the ancient knowledge of alchemy.

[...] Over 11 tracks of fantastically unapproachable guitars and vocals-- of deceivingly simple rhythms and unswerving purpose, Wire sound perfectly comfortable in their own skin and history on Red Barked Tree.

"[23] The Quietus described the record as "a Wire album, through and through [...] Red Barked Tree reclaims the essence of their best work – the irreverence-- the serene self-assuredness and the melody-- but it's their lesser recognized attribute (a gamely grace) that eclipses all else here [...] as products of the post-punk generation their songs are full of contradictions: simultaneously friendly and unfamiliar-- arithmetical but rolling and rabble-rousing--but vaguely neutral.

The overall outcome is a sound much like a summer cold (woebegone and chilled) but caressed with ripples of tingly heat valanced by Newman's nacreous rhythm guitar that twirls through the wet and refined production beautifying everything it touches.

"[1] The Pitchfork review by Stuart Berman noted the presence of acoustic guitars in three tracks and the record's "impulsive stylistic shifts from mechanized thrash to psychedelic folk to nervy power-pop, mirror[ing] the 'age of fragmentation' that Colin Newman is railing against.

[...] Wire have successfully reinvented themselves: this time as wise elder statesmen cautioning against a world where over-reliance on GPS systems has replaced the basic survivalist skill of knowing your map references.

"[15] The Kansas City Star commented, "virtually all aspects of Wire's varied history are covered: creating a stylistic best-of composed of new material.

You can count bands as diverse as R.E.M., Guided By Voices, the Manic Street Preachers, Minor Threat and the Cure as among those who confess a fondness for Wire that demonstrates inspiration.

"[26] The review by Tim Klingbiel on Australian music website FasterLouder noted, "From seething political references to prophetic statements about the environment Red Barked Tree deals with a range of subjects in a magnificently compelling and thought provoking way.

"[21] AllMusic reviewer "j. poet" considered the album "another strong effort," writing, "While Wire is still making music that shatters expectations after 30 years they're sounding a lot like the mainstream rockers they once despised.

"[29] All tracks are written by WireStrays was recorded in November 2010 at Resident Studios in London and performed by Wire, augmented by guitarists Matthew Simms and Margaret Fiedler McGinnis.