It’s always good to hear new music across the watery lakes in two locations by showing where the next landscape comes across the horizon. With the celestial wonders of ambient turned visual sounds of Louisiana-based soundscape artist Julianna Barwick and North Carolina-based harpist Mary Lattimore, blends in the perfect chemistry between the two of them to work on their haunting release, Tragic Magic.
Released on the InFiné label, Tragic Magic is a walk into the deep end of the forest which feels like a dream, coming out of nowhere and feels like a path to enlightenment and the pilgrimage of the soul and deepening one’s connection to the heart. You feel as if you’re watching the duo, pouring their heart and soul into the album and bringing all of these wonders to life to make sure they’ve got it all down to a T.
The calling of the choral turned medieval harp into a renaissance for the ‘Temple of the Winds’, builds layers into the Tolkien-like universe where the duo envision what the original books showcases their fantasy-like textures in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a way that the duo stay true to the author’s vision in the heart of the Shire and Rivendell, to portray its safe havens and angelic choir to the atmosphere.
The sun-lifting turned rain-dropping effects behind ‘Stardust’ sets across the harp and synths to build by going up and down for a new beginning turned new chapter in the person’s life whilst ‘The Four Sleeping Princess’ gives Lattimore a chance to tell this story which has this world music-like setting across the land of the rising sun with its concentrating reverbs she unfolds by giving Julianna’s vocalizations, a call to the light of wonder.
But it’s their take of Vangelis’ ‘Rachel’s Song’ from the 1982 sci-fi cult classic Blade Runner that speaks volume. Here, the duo honoring the late maestro to endure its own unique approach to the composition as Barwick visions the wordless vocals of Mary Hopkin in the piece. In other words, they show class, tipping of the hat, and approach in their form of how the piece should sound in the dystopian world of Los Angeles, 2029.
‘Melted Moon’ showcases the minimalistic realm with restraint, channeling Terry Riley and Steve Reich where Lattimore plays this loop-like structure on her harp and Julianna echoes her chambering effects on the soundscapes to walk across the watery lakes by taking us into the next adventure that’s waiting for us.
