Review Summary: The perfect soundtrack to a nostalgic fairytale.
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore are some of the most intriguing artists in the ambient/new age genres today. Both women have the uncanny ability to transport you into atmospheres that rival your favorite fairytales. Their combination of dreamlike ambient and nostalgic new age sensibilities have the power to make the listener forget all of their problems for just a little while and make them feel like they're young again, running around, playing make believe games with friends and giving off childlike vibes that can take you back to some of your favorite memories.
Tragic Magic is a collaborative album between the two and the aura that it gives off is that of wandering around a brightly lit forest in the warm sun.
The album starts off with ‘Perpetual Adoration’ and this track immediately sets the tone for what's to come throughout the entirety of the album. Harps sway gently in the background while gorgeous, ghostlike vocals lull you into a sense of complete calm. This is followed up by ‘The Four Sleeping Princesses’, a track that gives off a pleasant ambiance akin to what Grouper does on
Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill in the sense that you feel as if an unseen presence is following you through an immense castle during a springtime ball. By this point, you realize that the harp playing has a huge role in the overall atmosphere of the album and it really induces a trancelike state.
‘Rachel's Song’ is more of a pure ambient track, the harp is still prominent, but it feels like the whistling and background crooning are far off in the distance, like Rapunzel calling out to you from her captivation waiting to be rescued. The next track, ‘Haze With No Haze’, is like a continuation of the previous track, giving off a cheerful vibe after rescuing the princess from her imprisonment and rushing her out of the massive castle as Julianna and Mary serenade you with their lovely voices.
Tragic Magic can be a bit samey, but the soothing vocals and strum of the harp throughout invokes so many emotions that it's hard to really fault it for the lack of variety.
The final three tracks, ‘Temple of the Winds’, ‘Stardust’ and ‘Melted Moon’ is like a trilogy that brings this folktale to a close. The neoclassical tendencies continue to give the listener those warm and fuzzy feelings of nostalgia, reminiscing about the bedtime stories your parents used to read you when you were a kid. That right there is exactly what puts this album over the top for me personally. It takes you back to a simpler time. It's like a soothing lullaby that flows together so perfectly as you drift away into a deep sleep.
Tragic Magic might not blow everyone away like it did for me. I can understand people thinking that it's a bit derivative and lacking in variety, but if you're a fan of ambient, new age or soft folk music, there's not much here that you won't like. I can't think of many other albums where a harp is so prominent and the chilling, reverb-soaked vocals are a perfect compliment to the misty imagery that Julianna and Mary are able to solicit throughout the entire 42-minute runtime. It's like the warm sun shining on your face in the springtime, an ode to your precious childhood that you hold near and dear to your heart, and for me, that's exactly what I look for in this type of ambient/new age music.
