Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore at EartH

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore

Vines

EartH, 11 April 2026

I had a very magical, witchy evening with Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore at the charming EartH playing songs from their beautiful new album, Tragic Magic. It was a lovely night filled with dreamy, ethereal music and it's always a joy to hear a harp live, particularly Lattimore's gorgeous playing, as well as Barwick's heavenly vocals.

It's been a while since I've been to EartH but I was looking forward to going to a sitting gig for once, although as it's a free for all where you actually sit, I still had to queue a little in order to get a decent seat. With EartH I find it's always important to get within the first five or so rows, which have actual seats, otherwise you are just sitting on the big steps that make up the rest of the hall and my back can't be dealing with that, so luckily I got a plum second row spot, which gave me a comfortable aisle seat (in which no one sat next to me either, even better!) and a perfect close view of the stage. One thing though it was absolutely freezing inside and I had to wear my coat and hat throughout it all, but it's a small gripe as everything else was very atmospheric and I'd prefer to be a bit chilly than sweating, for sure.

The first act was called Vines, not the Australian rock band The Vines, but Vines, an ambient musical project of a New York-based multi-instrumentalist Cassie Wieland. The name actually really suits her music but I always think it's a bad idea to have a band name that is so close to an already well-established artist. 

She arrived onstage looking very low-key with collaborator Adam Holmes (who usually plays drums with her) and they take their places behind a black stand that seems to holding a laptop and keyboard and other digital things. They look rather small on the big stage with this simple get-up but once the music starts the light show helps make it a little more interesting.

Obviously a lot of the music came from the computer and even Wieland's vocals were put through a vocoder giving it a other-worldly feel, while the pair remained stationary throughout. This kind of performance is very different than seeing a standard band or singer, it's more about atmosphere and a sound that watching what is going on on the stage but it was actually quite relaxing and cinematic. 

There were obviously folky soundscapes in there, as well as electronic elements, with the synth the other instrument that was being played live. I did wonder if I would get as much from the music listening to it on record but I did definitely enjoy their set. The best moment for me came when Wieland announced they were going to do a Fleetwood Mac cover which turned out to be a very sweeping and electronic sounding version of Silver Springs. It was surprisingly effective and of course, anyone that covers the Mac, especially the less obvious songs (they should look into covering something like Beautiful Child next time), immediately wins me over.

This was apparently Wieland's first ever UK show and they were without a doubt well paired with Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore and it certainly put me in the right spiritual space for what came next.

The stage set-up for the main act didn't deviate too much, with the keyboard stand merely moved to the left and, most importantly, that heavenly harp set up to the right. Both Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore emerged in a purple haze of dry ice, quite quietly, all dressed in black and took their places smiling, the whole crowd in silent anticipation. 

They gently launched into the first track on the new album, Perpetual Adoration, a slow building dreamy number that sounded almost church-like, the sort of music you would hear on arrival to heaven's gates. The song is apparently about Catholic rituals, which completely makes sense, as I can imagine prayers and making communion to this music: Barwick's voice soaring over the cascading strings from Lattimore's harp. It was truly spellbinding. 

Stardust, meanwhile, had a more cinematic sound, with synths beautifully melding with the delicate plucking of the harp: it was truly lovely. 

The next song, Oh Memory, comes from Barwick's solo work but it fit perfectly in the set because that song was also a collaboration with Lattimore: full of shimmering harp and Barwick's soothing vocals, that echoed all around the theatre. 

The pair also ventured into Lattimore's solo work with the aptly titled, Feels Like Floating. Apparently the song is about a "blissed out" experience, drugs or otherwise, and features some absolutely jaw-dropping harp playing from Lattimore, with cascading, shimmering plucked notes, creating a truly celestial feel. It was fascinating to watch Lattimore play, she is truly an amazing musician and throughout she also used effects pedals on her lap to either make loops of her playing, layering her performance, or putting interesting spooky effects on her harp. I just soaked up her performance and couldn't stop watching her. The only other harpist I've seen live is Joanna Newsom, and that was never this close up (and also it was years ago now), so it really was a treat to be in the presence of Lattimore.

Before they performed the only cover song on the record, Rachel's Song from the Blade Runner soundtrack (which being unfamiliar with the music from this film, I didn't even realise they didn't write it!), Barwick talked about how they were recording the album in Paris during the Los Angeles wildfires last year that threatened their homes and the relief when a friend called to say that it was finally raining there. Barwick asked her friend to record the rain and they used that recording on the actual record and it was played as the intro to Rachel's Song, effectively adding to the spooky, ethereal feel of the track.

Lattimore also spoke during the concert, telling us about how they recorded the album in just nine days  in the Philharmonie de Paris's Musée de la Musique, where they were able to record using ancient instruments, including one harp from 1740, that they couldn't even properly mike in fear of damaging it! The idea of "waking up the sleeping instruments" led to the title of the song The Four Sleeping Princesses, which truly feels like it belongs to a fairytale from another time.

The pair performed all seven songs from the album, ending with the stunning single Melted Moon, in which, funnily enough, the harp sounds like rain falling with Barwick's ghostly vocals giving the whole song a dreamlike feel, that kept building, as the lights surrounded them on stage making them truly look like glowing angelic figures.

Not surprisingly this rousing finale had everyone on their feet, giving them a more than deserved standing ovation. The response was so strong that it actually drew them back on stage and Barwick told us that this was actually only their third ever encore and it was a cover of a Perfume Genius song called Alan: the only other song they knew how to play! I don't know the original song but it was utterly beautiful, with Lattimore's sweeping harp intertwining with Berwick's plaintive vocals. I don't always love encores but when they are genuine like this one they always feel special and this was certainly no exception.

A truly lovely end to a beautiful, magical night, where I felt like I was transported to another world.