Julianna Barwick

Healing is a Miracle has crept up as probably my favorite record from 2020, as Indexed notes when a track from it comes on the whole world seems to red shift into prehistory. The adjacency to Grouper, so close but also so different, makes me think of the future as a catalog with no gaps.

Somehow I never got around to Healing is a Miracle, or maybe I wasn't paying enough attention for it to resonate with me, but listening to it today it is bowling me over. Magic Place is the one that I hold close to my heart, and the usual Julianna Barwick stuff on Healing is totally on par with that, while the guests and additions add a whole other emotional dimension. Indexed otm re: "the fulsome lower register." I surprised myself with the comparison but when the deep rumbling synth comes in on "Inspirit" it reminds me of when the synths come in on "O Superman" and add a whole array of richer, more foreboding colors to the palette. Great album. I will probably still listen to Magic Place more because it is such mood music to me, and the moods on this one are more diverse. But without giving it too much thought this one is feeling like her best artistic achievement thus far.