It's
no secret that Julianna Barwick's sweet vocal tones are well loved throughout
the lands. Her music is relaxing, spiritual and organic. The basic raw ingredients
are mixed heavily with electronic effects such as reverb and delay to create
her astounding ethereal sound. After releasing her debut album The Magic
Place in 2011, we wondered whether Barwick would continue down the path of
smoky vocal refrains or take a deeper electronic route. Her second album Nepenthe
will be out shortly, but not before the pre-release single "One
Half" to force excitement back in to our summers.
The word 'layer' may as well be Barwick's middle name after The Magic
Place. Barwick has even enlisted a teenage female fronted choir and
Icelandic string stars Amiina. They provided strings on Spiritualized fantastic
seventh album Sweet Heart, Sweet Light last year. Barwick even
turned to Iceland for the recording of her second album, surprised? I'm not.
The delicious vocal ambience and church-like atmosphere create a blissful mood
intended for the beautiful nature our planet provides. The landscapes and soundscapes
of Iceland have rubbed off on Barwick as "One Half" suggests. It
shows that even after The Magic Place, Barwick can still do the same all
over again and excite her audience.
~Eddie
