Staff Reviews

Julianna Barwick - Will

Review by Russell Warfield

It’s the gentle tension between rigidity and fluidity which makes this a brilliant record»

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Julianna Barwick's revelatory third full-length, 'Will', is the Brooklyn experimental artist's most surprising
left turn to date. Conceived and self-produced over the past year in a variety of locations, the compelling
Will departs from the weighty lightness of 2013's 'Nepenthe'. If 'Nepenthe' conjured images of gentle fog rolling over desolate mountains, then 'Will' is a late afternoon thunderstorm, a cathartic collision of sharp and soft textures that sounds ominous and restorative all at once. 'Will' comes off of Barwick's busiest period in her career to date following Nepenthe - a spate of activity that included playing piano for Yoko Ono, performing at the 25th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert alongside such kindred spirits as the Flaming Lips and Philip Glass, releasing the Rosabi EP, and delivering a reimagining of Bach's 'Adagio' from Concerto In D Minor. Her life over the past several years has largely been lived in transit, and as such the genesis of 'Will' was not beholden to location; Barwick reflects on this cycle of constant motion. "You're constantly adjusting,
assimilating, and finding yourself in life-changing situations." That sense of forward propulsion is largely owed to Will's synth-heavy textures, an ingredient she was inspired to add to her vocal loop-heavy formula after demoing a new prototype analog sequencer for Moog. Another new wrinkle Will introduces in Barwick's sound: Mas Ysa's Thomas Arsenault, who lends his richly complex vocals to 'Same' and 'Someway.' The beguiling, beautifully complicated Will is the latest proof yet of Barwick's irresistibly engaging talent as a composer and vocalist.description from www.roughtrade.com