JULIANNA BARWICK's art is equal parts force and beauty. Her music finds its motor in significant events in her own life, but they are abstracted into a sense of sonic wonderment, a radiance that you could say is her signature sound. That radiance has been taken to new zeniths with ,Nepenthe", her third full-length album, which was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland, in the dark cold days of February. "Everything I was making was visceral - the record represents some serious emotional stuff," she confirms, while at the same time she raves with enormous positivity about the unique recording environment. Alex Somers (musician/producer of SIGUR ROS, JONSI, JONSI & ALEX) invited her to Iceland in the first place. For JULIANNA, who was blown away at a SIGUR ROS show in 2002, it was a dream come true. "That was the fastest email I ever wrote: "Yes!" Who would say no to that?" Somers produced and engineered the record and brought in local Icelandic musicians who turned out to make crucial contributions: string ensemble AMIINA, guitarist Róbert Sturla Reynisson from MUM, and a choir of teenage girls.