American songstress Julianna Barwick is by no means a typical female singer songwriter. Rather, her spine-tingling, arrestingly beautiful compositions have an otherworldly quality to them – made even more spectacular when performed live. The Famous Spiegeltent served as the perfect venue for the musician, enhancing the magical ambience that her music evokes. Playing to a full venue, Barwick had her audience transfixed from start to finish.
Having spent her youth singing in her rural school and church choirs, there can be no doubt that such an upbringing has had a profound influence upon the music that Barwick writes today. Looping and layering her angelic voice, Barwick has an undeniable talent for making her songs gradually escalate into soaring and amazingly textured melodies. Feeling no need for lyrics, Barwick seems to be entirely concerned with her vocal delivery and the way that intricate alterations to her looping can alter and enhance her songs. Her method of occasionally weaving pre-recorded piano and percussions into the mix also does a great to make her sound even more interesting.
The majority of Barwick’s set list came from her 2011 album The Magic Place. Indeed, her songs are comprised of such minute subtleties that it was difficult to differentiate one song from the next. Yet this didn’t seem to matter, as her songs flowed easily into one another and her material still managed to engage the crowd with ease. In no hurry to rush through the loveliness of each melody, Barwick’s set had a calming quality to it, at times evoking the sounds of Enya or even Sigur Rós.
Treating us to a short performance, Barwick made it perfectly clear that her voice is nothing short of sublime. With such a gift and skill for experimenting with her sound, it will be well worth keeping an eye on her to see where she goes from here.
