Julia Holter

At the end of 2015, every serious music poll included Julia Holter and her magical album “Have You In My Wilderness”! Since her debut album “Tragedy” (2011), the Californian musician moved from low-key, high-concept art towards song-orientated, catchy dream pop in surprisingly few steps. From an off-scene insider tip to an internationally celebrated darling for all undogmatic and curious music connoisseurs. After completing her electronic music studies at the California Institute of the Arts, the highly educated and well-read musician reduced conceptual elements, increased production values, and grounded her idiosyncratic orchestrations by including handmade music. “Loud City Song” (2013) already included cello, double bass, saxophone, trombone, keyboards and percussion, while the tracks musically oscillated between Laurie Anderson, Siouxie Sioux and Jon Hassell. On her fourth album “Have You In My Wilderness” – with drums and strings, the songs no longer stand for loaned literary narratives but for themselves. The astonishing spectrum ranges from the almost perfect offbeat song “Feel You” through to jazzy polyphone “Vasquez”. The strange thing is: the more often you listen to this album, the more secretive it becomes. Now there remains the question: how does this mysterious accessibility feel live in a concert hall?