Longtime friends and frequent collaborators, Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore have been enriching each other's music for years. Mary's participation on Julianna's 2020 album Healing Is a Miracle was a particularly memorable moment in their ongoing collaboration. But Tragic Magic, their first full-length project together, is something special. Recorded at the Musée de la Musique in Paris shortly after the fires that devastated their hometown of Los Angeles in January 2025, Lattimore and Barwick use 18th- and 19th-century harps and 20th-century analog synthesizers to fully explore the harmonious connections and contrasts in their music. The union between Julianna's soft, enveloping voice, electronic sounds, and Mary's precise harp playing is as beautiful as expected on "Perpetual Adoration", which opens the album with a luminous tribute to the duo's visit to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Montmartre. However, Tragic Magic quickly exceeds expectations. A winter freshness underlies the fairy-tale grace of "The Four Sleeping Princesses", a slowly awakening piece dedicated to the museum's instruments. "Temple of the Winds", a track written by Roger Eno, seems to come from a distant era. In contrast, the duo's version of "Rachel's Song", from the Blade Runner soundtrack composed by Vangelis, makes the black glare of rain-soaked streets feel both futuristic and immediate. While the album doesn't feel as personal as Healing Is a Miracle or Mary Lattimore's Rain on the Road, that's also a strength. On "Melted Moon", where Julianna Barwick transforms into a choir, and on "Stardust", with its ecstatic combination of haunting synthesizers and Mary's sparkling harp notes, it feels as if the duo is composing music to soothe the universe. In short, Tragic Magic is a moving and powerfully gentle testament to the chemistry between the two artists.

On his debut album, Sombr proves that he has a real sense of melody, right from the opening seconds of the hit single "back to friends". He combines simplicity and intensity in a unique way, as well as exerting a charm all his own. This is evident throughout the young singer-songwriter's first album. Each track is carried on by a grandiose and unforgettable chorus, enhanced by the skilled and passionate vocal style of the New York singer. I Barely Know Her begins with the melodrama "crushing", followed by a touch of brightness with "12 to 12" and later, devastation in the excellent "canal street." Five minutes long, this last track proves central to the album and retraces Canal Street in New York City with a surprisingly concrete gaze. Some choruses may seem a little easier ("I wish I knew how to quit you" and "we never dated"), a few flaws linked to inexperience, but which are nonetheless an integral part of the album's central theme, heartbreak. "undressed", a gem, is another highlight of the album, lamenting the reluctance to "undress for someone new". The young man is making waves with his debut album, which is only the first chapter in a brilliant career to come. (January 2026 Featured New Artist)

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