New Music Reviews: Titanic, Sault, and Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore

It’s an especially eclectic bunch this week – the ambient collaboration of Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore, the funk of Sault, and Titanic’s concise progressive rock.

Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore

Tragic Magic

2026, 8.5/10
Harpist Mary Lattimore and vocalist/producer Julianna Barwick are a natural pairing – both make pretty music. For their collaborative album, they were given access to the instrument collection of Philharmonie de Paris’ Musée de la Musique. It’s beautiful, with choral vocals, ambient loops, and delicated stringed instruments.

Just walking up to the Philharmonie every day, this sparkling silver structure, where we could go into it and record in the Museum of Instruments – it was dazzling. Our engineer, Trevor Spencer, had the greatest ideas and was so respectful. In my eyes, it could not have been more magical. We even loved our hotel! We were obsessed with the breakfast there.

Julianna Barwick, In Conversation

Despite the consistently gorgeous atmosphere, the individual songs cut through. There’s a lovely cover of Vangelis’s ‘Rachel’s Song’, from the Blade Runner soundtrack, while they also take on Roger Eno’s ‘Temple of Winds’. ‘Stardust’ stands out with its intensity, while ‘Four Sleeping Princesses’ is delicate and beautiful.

Tragic Magic is exquisitely gorgeous, an early 2026 favourite.

Titanic

Hagen

2025, 8.5/10
Mabe Fratti’s Sentir Que No Sabes was one of my favourite albums of 2024. On Hagen, the Guatemalan-born cellist and vocalist works with her romantic and creative partner, Hector Tosta. Titanic is largely Tosta’s project , and he steers the duo toward progressive territory – Fratti explained to Pitchfork that “Héctor’s chords are super sophisticated—expensive.” Meanwhile, Tosta describes Fratti in glowing terms, “she plays cello like a devil and she sings like an angel.”

The songs are short but often complex and packed with ideas. When the simple riff hits at the end of ‘Lágrima Del Sol’, it’s unexpectedly straightforward. The single ‘La Dueña’ starts with avant-garde cello before it turns into a soaring, operatic pop song.

‘La Trampa Sale’ is dramatic, with a commanding Fratti vocal, backed by piano and choral vocals. ‘Gotera’ is a fascinating arrangement, with little beyond the cello and spasmodic, clattering percussion.

Hector: I love going to karaoke in Mexico and of course people are always singing so many old bangers, and I always thought that it might be fun to have that kind of song in our repertory. Saying that I really tried to write the lyrics according to a broken heart from the ’60s. It just was super fun and it was super cool to put a distorted cello on it.
Mabe: This, for me, is like a Rocío Durcal song! But metal. 

Titanic, on La dueña

You might not recognise her name, but Mabe Fratti is making great music right now.

Sault

Chapter 1

2026, 6/10
Sault’s thirteenth (!) album features legendary producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. It’s lovely to hear from the two legendary producers, although production wasn’t necessarily what Sault needed to break out of their slump.

Chapter 1 works musically, but Sault’s lyrical pettiness is becoming wearisome. The collective used to sing about black rights and self-empowerment, but now they’re preoccupied with accusations and business deals. It’s fine when they’re singing platitudes like ‘God, Protect Me From My Enemies’. But when they delve into specifics on ‘Chapter 1’, it feels more like a tired reprise than a fresh chapter.

Living in your head ’cause the rent is cheap
And you count your problems before you go to sleep

Chapter 1 is too lyrically predictable to live up to past triumphs, even if it’s often musically strong.

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• 2025 albums on my to-do list
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