Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore join The Tonearm to discuss 'Tragic Magic,' their debut collaboration recorded in nine days at the Philharmonie de Paris using instruments pulled directly from the museum's historic collection.
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Today, we’re putting The Tonearm's needle on Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore.
Julianna is a composer, vocalist, and producer whose music is built almost entirely from layered, looped human voices. Mary is a harpist who has spent years pushing that instrument into a vast, exploratory realm.
In January 2025, the two flew to Paris just days after the LA wildfires tore through their community. There, they spent nine days recording with instruments pulled from a museum, including harps dating back to 1728 and vintage analog synthesizers. The result is Tragic Magic, out on InFiné, and it's one of the most talked-about records of the year so far.
Julianna and Mary just returned from Big Ears Festival and, in a few days, are heading back to Paris to perform these songs live with those same instruments. We caught them as they were preparing for the trip.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore's Tragic Magic)
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00:00 Introduction
01:18 Leaving LA after the fires
03:20 The rooms at the Philharmonie de Paris
06:03 Choosing the instruments
09:16 Making "Stardust"
14:27 Mary and the harp: a complicated start
18:59 Julianna discovers looping
22:18 Vulnerability and "Melted Moon"
25:27 "Temple of the Winds" and a 1728 harp
30:25 "Rachel's Song" and the first rain
35:45 A decade of friendship
38:38 James Turrell and the art of light
43:59 Waking the sleeping princesses
45:38 On analog synthesizers
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Visit Julianna Barwick at https://juliannabarwick.com
and follow her on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/juliannabarwick
and Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/JuliannaBarwick
Visit Mary Lattimore at → https://marylattimore.net
and follow her on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/maryoverthere
and Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/harpistmarylattimore
Purchase 'Tragic Magic' from InFiné → https://infine-music.com/mary-lattimore-julianna-barwick
Bandcamp → https://juliannabarwick.bandcamp.com/album/tragic-magic
or Qobuz → https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/tragic-magic-julianna-barwick-mary-lattimore/m4vcvmfche8hb
and listen on your [streaming platform of choice → https://idol-io.ffm.to/tragicmagic
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