Just when you think you’re starting to understand the mind of
Julia Holter, she throws a serious curveball, landing you somewhere in The Crusades.
The LA-based avant-garde musician has a thing for a very literary kind of history. Her 2011 debut '
Tragedy' brought us on an atmospheric journey to ancient Greece, particularly a staging of Euripides’ Hippolytus. 2013’s ‘
Loud City Song’, which saw Holter crafting a thrillingly alive but also handily accessible album inspired by Colette’s novella Gigi.
For her fifth studio album, ‘
Aviary’, we’re thrown about through time between the Middle Ages, the present day, and some Blade Runner-style dystopia. Lyrics from Medieval Occitan songs sit alongside phonetic translations of a Napalese Buddhist’s song, while Vangelis-esque synth orchestration floats above it all. Where her previous record, ‘
Have You In My Wilderness’, felt her most accessible, Aviary might just be her most dense and perplexing. But, given time and real care, it’s easy to discover the beauty that lies within, even if the meaning might escape you sometimes.
‘
Underneath The Moon’, which references the St Vitus’ Dance, a medieval case of mass hysteria, is a stunningly upbeat number. Alongside the jazz-inflected bass, playful 80s synths that feel straight from the mind of Mark Mothersbaugh skip through the song.
