Human Barbie aches in all the right places. Los Angeles-based frontman and producer Christopher Leopold started the project back in 2018 with the indie pop single nineteen80, releasing their debut lo-fi-sounding album Get A Life in 2020. Leopold found himself writing throughout the pandemic, releasing the surf-rock and shoegaze inspired no worries EP in 2022. Now with a second project on the horizon, the single “Invocation” gives listeners a taste of what’s to come.
“Fantasie” – which we already covered – brings Bedouine’s Waysides or Lucy Takes A Picture by Youth Lagoon to mind. It sounds like walking on city streets on a spring day, dainty cherry blossom trees sprinkling down as the chorus blooms between verses, affixed to strums of guitar. Sonically, “Invocation” is the opposite, sitting on a piano bench and plucking a stormy, dramatic landscape from the keys. Immediately there’s a shift, with Leopold lamenting to the listener from the first line of “Dear God, I’m stuck forever”. The lyrics bleed drama with lines of being stranded atop an island, finding abandonment at the seeking of refuge, held in a state of rapture in repeating the lines over and over like a mantra.
The song’s dainty, waltz-like tempo and hushed vocals bring thoughts of Florence and The Machine in the cinematic mist cloaking the lyrics, such as the line “Voice echoing raw like a phantom”. “Invocation” is suspended in an ethereal dreamlike state, as if the melody could carry someone through the slowing rhythm of their breathing, through stirring and slumbering. The music cries out as if it’s been left alone, echoing the lyrics of melancholic abandonment. Most of all, it’s perfectly reminiscent of the demo of Elliot Smith’s “Waltz #1”, an eerie and tender performance by the late singer-songwriter, complete with the analog sound Leopold has so excellently crafted here.
These new singles are an absolute acceleration for Human Barbie, displaying their versatility in their music and how they’ve mastered their ethereal sound by incorporating varying genres. Leopold uses songwriting skills and analog production style to create music taking place across landscapes, particular ambiences, holding stories in the process. Human Barbie’s artistry is refreshingly unique, with “Fantastie” and “Invocation” bringing up the curtain on a new chapter of a diverse and flourishing discography.
Take a listen to the new tracks below:
Written by Mira Dhillon
