Julia Holter- Have You in My Wilderness (2015)

Julia Holter- Have You in My Wilderness (2015)

By: Ghost Writer

You have to give a lot of credit to Julia Holter for creating one of the most beautiful forward thinking pop albums of last year, in Have You in My Wilderness, Holter has created an ambitious and challenging record, I must say that few artist are capable of combining the complex elements of baroque music, classic instrumentation, and sensitive pop the way Holter is presenting them to us in this terrific recording.

Have You in My Mind for starters is running wild in the dense directions Bjork is trying, and having a bit of trouble, to get into, but Holter displays talent and serious dedication to each song, she is all over the place with delicate surprising arrangements, Feel You, the album's opener is as playful as delicious, Holter is wonderful as a singer, and the combination of her pristine vocals, a solid drum performance and dynamic bass line give the song an almost classic feel from the 70's and 80's without failing miserably in nostalgia, with great glimpses at both prog rock and Kate Bush.

But great performances don't end there, and Holter again gets the benefits of a wonderful rhythm section on Silhouette, with Holter using intricate vocal lines and omnipresent string arrangements to dress up this dream like suite, while How Long is the type of stuff obscure legend Nico did in the shadow, but Holter simply changes the context for the misty morning, finding the perfect conjunction of her voice and the languid musical movements.

Musically, Sea Calls Me Home could compare fairly good with any of those beautifully obscure tracks of Brian Wilson in the 70's, it's tender and desperate at the same time, using the nostalgic harpsichord as main instrument and featuring ghostly vocals and chorus, with vaudeville jumps at us in the upbeat Everytime Boots.

Have You... Is full of great surprises, with Julia displaying her most fragile vocal performance in the piano ballad Betsy on the Roof and the visiting the psychedelic landscapes of bands like Stereolab on the impressively detailed Vasquez, which at times features some jazzy structures.

Is a fact that Holter won't have a commercial hit in the near future, although critical acclaim would be unanimous, I'm sure Holter is not trying to become a famous pop star, but from the edges she is impressively opening the doors for a more intellectually proposing pop music, fusing with sheer talent the avant garde with the accessibility of pop, with a record full of passion and conviction, a record that would undoubtedly become influential for future generations giving the chance to pop to move forward and to continue its evolution into a more transcendental medium.