Julianna Barwick

Of the six artists playing Pitchfork's official SXSW showcase, Julianna Barwick's opening set felt most attuned to the setting - stained glass windows aglow and audience seated in pews within Austin's Central Presbyterian Church. Barwick's songs are multi-layered tapestries of sound, all sharing for a foundation her extraordinary, crystalline soprano. I saw many different acts this SXSW doing fascinating things with the solo-vocalist-and-loop-station conceit, but none as delicate or precise as Barwick's. Each song felt like as certain as a tide flowing and ebbing, not just continuing from one second to the next, but revealing a new detail of its intricate, clearly-intentioned structure. Singing in a church choir was part of Barwick's musical development, and it shows in the spiritual, even hymnal reverence of her sound.