Juliana Barwick and Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic Review – Tragedy and Hope in a Dreamlike Mist | Experimental music

AAfter years of touring together, Los Angeles-based composers Juliana Barwick and Mary Lattimore have developed what the former refers to as “musical telepathy.” Tragic Magic, the duo’s first collaborative album, proves this bond: born from a short series of improvisational sessions in Paris, it’s a wonderfully immersive collection of new age and ambient tracks, where Barwick’s airy, reverent vocals and atmospheric synths intertwine and highlight Lattimore’s shimmering guitar.

The album sessions took place shortly after last year’s California wildfires, which the two musicians experienced as residents. Consequently, tragedy and hope cut through the dream-like fog of these flat compositions. With its delicate harp loop and hushed whispers, opener Perpetual Adoration is as sweet and dreamy as a lullaby, while the gorgeous and moving Haze With No Haze carries a quiet desperation in its fragile, staccato melody Barwick’s high record was missed. As always, her words are indistinguishable, words intertwined with texture and formless whispers, yet full of emotion.

Even at their most austere, the songs sound more sublime and cinematic than their respective solo works; Lattimore’s ukulele was given a special space to shine. Occasionally, the duo reaches epic heights, as in their mystical rendition of “Rachel’s Song” from Blade Runner, which surges in an effervescent flurry in the final minute, or on Stardust, the album’s climax, where soaring synths and celestial harp flashes are augmented by a drum kick five minutes in, the closest things come to pop sensations. But just then, they strip it all back again for the nearly nine-minute long fluttering Melting Moon — residual emotion where fullness is not. The effect is both intimate and expansive.

Also out this month

Aquáticos, the new collaborative album by the Brazilian guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento And Los Angeles producer Eddie Rochais fertile contemplative listening (music from memory). Across these nine rambling tracks, flowing rhythms, guitar plucks and synth strings are augmented by warm, soulful instrumentation, a combination that evokes lazy summer days. Even the most abstract recordings in Tashi Dorjis discography is characterized by the quiet madness that comes from his improvisational style. On his new album Low Clouds Hang, This Land Is on Fire (Drag City), the Bhutanese-American guitarist has opted for something a little more subdued. These echo-filled recordings are spacious, soft and introspective – his attempt to “find the silence”. French composer and sound artist Charlene Danancier She paints a chilling picture of ambiguous relationship dynamics on her new album Baisée (Strange Treatment). Across 10 haunting tracks, each dedicated to a different stage of a relationship or feeling, her fiery vocals wrap around dense, dissonant electronics.