Julianna Barwick tells us about her favorite albums of 2025

Ambient artist Julianna Barwick is releasing her anticipated new collaborative album with Mary Lattimore, Tragic Magic, this Friday (1/16) via InFiné. Ahead of that, she told us about her favorite albums of 2025. Read her picks and commentary below.

JULIANNA BARWICK’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

Betty Hammerschlag – Fake Girl
fell in love hard with the sound of this record after i heard ‘circlesss’. this reminds me of something that would have been included in the other music newsletter and that i would have had to run and get a physical copy to wear out back in the day. still need to do that! i love the bedroom-pop sound, slightly witchy and satanic. unique.

Justin Bieber – Swag I & II
i’m a huge justin bieber fan (pop and r&b are my first loves). i saw him in chicago when on tour with malibu. i love blasting this in the car and singing along. it’s deceptively simple, heart-forward music. i just love his voice. he’s gotten me through some rugged times. love JB.

Malibu – Vanities
speaking of malibu… barbara put out another stunner in 2025. barbara is an absolute genius in my opinion. when i saw the video for ‘spicy city’ i was just… dumbfounded. i told paul corley (who mixed the record) ‘ok so this is the song i’ve been wanting to make my whole life’. kinda kidding, kinda not. i discovered her through my friend’s marty’s animations soundtracked by bits he would find online in soundcloud mixes and other murky spots – and have obviously been a colossal fan ever since. the music is so vast, gorgeous, i love her voice. i even love it when she talks in songs and i usually don’t like it when people do that. she is just so laser-focused and has such an incredible vision – even her music videos are masterpieces. her nts radio show and alter egos are at once inspiring and life-affirming. can you tell i love her so much?

james K – Friend
i lovvvvvvvve thissssss record!! wow! takes me into their world. beautiful sarah mclachan esque vocals that take me back to high school days chasing skater boys with my best friend in my monte carlo. unique, doesn’t sound like anything else and made even cooler by the look of all the album/tour art/stage haze etc. big fan.

Aleksi Perälä – GRACE 15
came upon this by accident and love jamming to it. feels gamelan-esque to me, meditative. one of my favorite new discoveries and can’t wait to dig deeper into his catalog.

Tourist – Music is Invisible
a little bias on this one because i sang on it a little bit but i was a fan of tourist long before that! i am a huge electronic/dance music fan (most of my closest friends will tell you it’s what’s usually on) and will’s music is particularly gorgeous, and straddles the line between sad and fun beautifully. happy to call him a friend now.

Disiniblud – Disiniblud
another one i sang on but is definitely in my top ten because i listened to this gorgeous work of art by nina and rachika oh so many times this year. probably repeating myself but this is another world i loved to be in for the length of the record. echoing what i love about mark mcguire’s work, rachika’s guitar wizardry sends me on the same glittery way. was absolutely so stoked to hear willy of ponytail’s voice again, so singular and had missed it.

Nosaj Thing & Jacques Greene – Verses GT
obviously love my dear friend nosaj and the work we’ve done together so it was great to hear another collaboration from him. love this record – love the guest vocals, the not so sunny vibe and saw them live in LA and it was a really great show. love any show that keeps me moving from start to finish.

Alex Somers – In a Freezer With the London Contemporary Orchestra
well, alex is my favorite. favorite favorite favorite. and here he’s done it again. the world’s most adorable person somehow makes the impossible happen and records the london contemporary orchestra in an old freezer with AMRAP (an alex-coined acronym which stands for ‘as much reverb as possible’ – i’ve obviously stolen it) in the form of 12 second reverbs. sigh. gorgeous upon gorgeous, what alex does effortlessly.

Lauren Duffus – Can’s Gone Warm
man, i love lauren. found ‘love love love’ a few years ago so this EP was a major treat this year. love the mix of R&B vocals and electronic beats and weirdo stuff so much. one of my very favorite artists of the last few years. wanna see her live!!

Barwick will be on tour with Lattimore through the spring, including NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge on January 19 (with LEYA) and Knockdown Center on March 21 (with Geordie Greep, Delroy Edwards, and Still House Plants). See all dates below.

JULIANNA BARWICK & MARY LATTIMORE: 2026 TOUR DATES
Jan. 19, 2026 Le Poisson Rouge New York, NY
Feb. 14, 2026 Sid The Cat Auditorium Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 15, 2026 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
Feb. 17, 2026 Hotel Crocodile Seattle, WA
Feb. 18, 2026 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
Feb. 20, 2026 The Crepe Place Santa Cruz, CA
Feb. 21, 2026 Ojai Playhouse Ojai, CA
Mar. 12, 2026 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL
Mar. 14, 2026 Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Kalamazoo, MI
Mar. 15, 2026 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI
Mar. 17, 2026 The Great Hall Toronto, ON
Mar. 18, 2026 Gesù Montréal, Québec
Mar. 19, 2026 The Center for Arts at the Armory Somerville, MA
Mar. 20, 2026 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
Mar. 24, 2026 Miracle Theatre Washington, D.c., DC
Mar. 25, 2026 The Rialto Theatre Raleigh, NC
Mar. 26 – 29, 2026 Big Ears Festival 2026 Knoxville, TN
Apr. 10, 2026 Musée De La Musique Paris, France
Apr. 11, 2026 EartH London, United Kingdom
Apr. 12, 2026 DR Koncerthuset Studie 2 København, Denmark
Apr. 13, 2026 Fasching Stockholm, Sweden
Apr. 14, 2026 G Live Lab Helsinki, Finland
Apr. 16, 2026 HIMMEL Oslo, Norway
Apr. 17, 2026 Église Notre-Dame de Laeken Bruxelles, Belgium
Apr. 18, 2026 Bimhuis Amsterdam, Netherlands
Apr. 19, 2026 silent green Kulturquartier Berlin, Germany
Apr. 21, 2026 Bad Bonn Düdingen, Switzerland