AMERICAN DJ, rapper, songwriter, and record producer Diplo once likened Julianna Barwick’s music to “Care Bears making love.” That’s a bummer comparison.
Barwick’s music is wordlessly evocative—it makes you sorry for not knowing how to express the emotions it inspires. By patiently looping and layering subtle, silky layers of keys, ambient noise, and indecipherable vocals, her soft sound demands a careful listen.
The Louisiana-born experimental musician now lives in Brooklyn, a place teeming with talent that she calls “incredible… you’re just motivated by everyone making whatever they do happen here.” Surrounded by so many creators, Barwick says, “I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with very, very different artists… it’s kind of like a treasure chest.”
While her songs rarely include intelligible lyrics, singing is fundamental to their creation. Barwick had a “relaxed musical upbringing,” but notes, “I always had music going in one ear. I was in choir, I took voice lessons.” She went to church growing up, where, she remembers, “the congregation all sang together three times a week.” Although she didn’t aspire to become a professional musician until later, Barwick says, “I was singing all the time and making up little songs as I did my kid stuff.”