Will
Julianna Barwick\'s third album embraces synths to striking effect. Comprising field recordings and studio work, the buzz of traffic encircles *Will*, interwoven with Barwick\'s haunted choirgirl voice. She sounds submerged on “Nebula,” where striking synths dapple the surface of the water, but comes into focus on “Someway”, her voice chiming like church bells. On closing song “See, Know”, her long coo guides jazz percussion and a strident synth lead, the aggression positioning her music in the thrum of the real world.
Julianna Barwick's Will is a looser, less polished album than Nepenthe, and that rough-around-the-edges intimacy turns out to be a great part of its charm.
American vocalist and composer crafts an emotionally powerful, diverse third album that transcends the ambient genre.
Prior to Will, Julianna Barwick's albums each had a singular sense of place reflecting where they were made, whether it was her own bedroom or a converted swimming pool in Iceland.
The latest from the Brooklyn-based composer offers further fascination for those hypnotised by the ambient soundscapes of 2013's breakthrough Nepenthe.
For someone who makes the kind of ambient music Julianna Barwick makes, the Brooklyn-via-Missouri songwriter/composer probably didn't expect...
Julianna Barwick has occupied a unique space in music since her breakthrough, 2011's The Magic Place. She makes music that isn't quite electronic, because it's too organic; isn't quite instrumental, since it features voice; and isn't quite ambient, since