Seraphina Lotkhamnga on November 22nd, 2013

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To call Julianna Barwick‘s work a collection of “songs” feels almost wrong. Instead Barwick’s slow-burning amalgamation of voice fractals, synthesizers and strings are majestic compositions, and the Brooklyn-based experimentalist has released her most breathtaking album yet. “Nepenthe,” her third studio album, is the first record on which she has collaborated with someone, and it’s full of inaudible lyrics and the dichotomy of soothing and haunting. Working in tandem with producer Alex Somers, whom some may know as the partner of Sigur Ros’ Jonsi, Barwick’s new record is a devastatingly beautiful interpretation of her time in Iceland. Barwick’s always been meticulous with her compositions (2011’s “The Magic Place” focused on cyclical patterns), but arrangements such as “The Harbinger” and “Crystal Lake” are so complex and exquisite, one simply doesn’t have time to think about the musical architecture before the it envelops the senses. “Nepenthe” is out now via Dead Oceans.

||| Also: Check out the live performance video of “Crystal Lake” at Judson after the jump.

||| Live: Julianna Barwick plays Nov. 29 at the Church on York (4904 York Blvd. Highland Park).

Photo by Shawn Brackbill