Los Angeles-based composers Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore have unveiled their first joint studio effort, an album titled 'Tragic Magic'. The record, released on the InFiné label, is the fruit of a profound artistic synergy the pair developed over years of touring together, a connection Barwick describes as a form of 'musical telepathy'.
A Bond Forged in Sound
The project's origins lie in a brief series of improvisational sessions held in Paris. From these spontaneous creations emerged a cohesive and immersive collection of tracks that blend new age and ambient styles. The album's sonic signature is defined by the seamless interplay between Barwick's ethereal, reverberated vocals and atmospheric synth layers and Lattimore's intricate, luminous harp melodies.
The recording sessions carried a significant emotional weight, having taken place shortly after the devastating California wildfires of the previous year, which both musicians experienced firsthand as residents. This context of personal and environmental trauma subtly permeates the music, weaving threads of both tragedy and hope into its dreamlike fabric.
Navigating the Dreamlike Haze
The album opens with 'Perpetual Adoration', a piece built on a delicate harp loop and hushed whispers that evokes the sweet, drifting quality of a lullaby. In contrast, the track 'Haze With No Haze' introduces a quiet desperation through a brittle, staccato melodic line and Barwick's vocals reaching a yearning high register. As is characteristic of her work, the lyrics remain largely indiscernible, with words dissolving into pure texture and emotional resonance rather than literal narrative.
Throughout 'Tragic Magic', the duo's collaborative vision results in a sound that feels more expansive and cinematic than their individual solo projects. Lattimore's harp is afforded particular space to shine, its crystalline notes often acting as the album's guiding light. The pair occasionally build towards epic crescendos, notably on their shadowy reinterpretation of 'Rachel's Song' from the film Blade Runner, which culminates in an effervescent flurry of sound.
From Climax to Quiet Reflection
The album's climax arrives with 'Stardust', where soaring synth pads and celestial harp arpeggios are suddenly bolstered by the introduction of a drum kick roughly five minutes into the track—the record's closest brush with conventional pop sensibilities. This moment of fullness, however, is deliberately stripped away for the closing piece, the near-nine-minute 'Melted Moon'.
This final track returns to a fluttering, minimalist aesthetic, allowing the emotion cultivated throughout the album to linger powerfully in the newly created space. The overall effect of 'Tragic Magic' is one that masterfully balances the intimate with the vast, creating a listening experience that is both personally resonant and sonically grand.
Also released this month: Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento and LA producer Eddie Ruscha offer a lush, meditative collaboration titled 'Aquáticos' on Music from Memory. Bhutanese-American guitarist Tashi Dorji presents a calmer, more introspective set of reverb-drenched recordings on 'Low Clouds Hang, This Land Is on Fire' for Drag City. French composer Charlène Dannancier explores eerie relationship dynamics through breathy vocals and discordant electronics on her album 'Baisée' for Strange Therapy.
