Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore
Tragic Magic
INFINÉ
Experimental composer Julianna Barwick and harpist Mary Lattimore escaped the community-shattering 2025 LA fires by heading to France, where they cozied up to 16th- and 17th-century harps and vintage analog synths provided by the Musée de la Musique. Putting these two unlikely instruments together, the duo conducted experiments in atmospherics that alchemized their pain into Elysian melodic vibrations. The creative, mostly ambient tracks on the resulting collaborative album Tragic Magic transform emotion into something else; the contemplative chamber-folk tracks and the brighter, uplifting neoclassical recordings are enveloping, soothing, and cathartic, brought to life by Barwick and Lattimore’s unique creative connection.
The duo playfully describes their creative partnership as “musical telepathy,” an opaque descriptor of time, space, and memory coming together in a bizarre, spooky-action-at-distance mechanism that we may not fully understand. But we do get to appreciate it in Tragic Magic, even though it’s a mere shadow of the totality of their psychic connection. Inspired by the Parisian religious architecture and sprawling metropolis landscape, opener “Perpetual Adoration” introduces us to a world out of time, where the vintage sounds of harp and synth evoke the past—like a less anachronistic soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. It’s also one of two tracks with lyrics (closer “Melted Moon” brings vocals back into the mix, creating a sense of symmetry). The vocals are hymn-like, reflecting their religious inspiration as well as the input of engineer/mixer Trevor Spencer, who’s previously worked with Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty.
The album also features a cover of Vangelis’ “Rachel’s Song” from the Blade Runner soundtrack, adding to Tragic Magic’s aura with nostalgic ’80s synthesizers and subtle references to future dystopia. Likewise, a reference to The Cure through an AKAI MPC drum machine on the penultimate and heavenly “Stardust” is another cherry on top, enhancing the record’s religious gothic vibe. As a whole, Tragic Magic creates a space between cynicism and hope. Despair is transformed into something more profound and bittersweet with the help of the cinematic feel of the duo’s music. It’s powerful, soothing, cathartic, and a satisfying experience to hear unfold.
