Ekstasis by Julia Holter

As I began to worry that I might be bored with reverb drenched avant garde pop compositions, an album like this comes along and leaves me awe struck! It has taken me weeks to get around to writing about ‘Ekstasis’ because every time I listen to it I hear something new and adjust my feelings towards it. 

Hot off the heels of her successful (though limited in release) late 2011 debut ‘Tragedy’, Julia Holter is back with another full album within 6 months. The quick turn around period has not left the material suffering and it is as exciting as her first record, and perhaps more accessible. In an interview, Julia Holter revealed that it was originally meant to be an EP that grew with each track she added until her manager suggest producing it as an LP. ‘Ekstasis’ is refreshingly different to ‘Tragedy’ (as different as this type of music can be) and feels a lot more like a collection of songs rather than a sound composition. Each album has its merits, and it seems appropriate to discuss both as they appear to have strong links. ‘Goddess Eyes’ features in some form on ‘Tragedy’ once and is revisited twice more on the new record. It is clearly the most self-contained work on her debut and has the most life as an individual song. The vocoder lyrics echo the early music of ‘Air’ with a sound that also strays into trash-indie territories. I can’t help but think of Broken Social Scene’s ‘Anthem For A Seventeen Year-Old’ when I hear it, but I’m not sure how well it sat with the overtly experimental feel of the rest of 'Tragedy'. On ‘Ekstasis’ it has found a far more comfortable home and is far better fitted to the record.

The album opens with ‘Marienbad’, an immediate and melodic song that seems to borrow ideas from classical composition as much as it does from modern music. It has an infectious pace to it that builds up and slows back down again across the duration and already the exciting detailed approach can be heard in little idiosyncratic stings and motifs embedded into the sound. The little vocal splurge that repeats through out seems distorted out of recognition and could easily be mistaken as a reed instrument in an orchestra. ‘Our Sorrows’ follows with a gentler sound and the welcome return of some field recordings, a common factor in ‘Tragedy’ and arguably the basis of the record. This time though they are weaved into a far more conventional song rather than the free and exploratory sound of its predecessor. ‘In The Same Room’ kicks in with strong percussion including a familiar sampled handclap sound that leaves this song open to comparisons to Grimes. We are quickly out of the territory though, with ‘Boy In The Moon’ a song with strained lyrics working against the melody giving an unsettling break in the record and adding new shades and textures.

‘Moni Mon Amie’ is for me the song that could have been much more (or less as the case may be). It opens with a simplistic drone and vocal that then builds across the duration into a much fuller sound. I can’t decide whether it builds too quickly or whether it should build at all, but it feels a shame to overcrowd such a delicate vocal. I think I would have liked to have it play out with little behind it in contrast with the rest of the album. Perhaps this is nit-picking but it’s not quite the song I wanted it to be.

At first I thought ‘Ekstasis’ was a collection of ideas, with each track sounding like an exploration of electronic music, but felt little tie between the tracks. With each listen, this idea disappeared and the true nature of the record became established. The unexpected flashes of free-jazz found in ‘Four Gardens’ and ‘This is Ekstasis’ at first seemed to come from nowhere and seemed out of place. Now I can’t think how or why I felt that way. All these little flourishes are what separates ‘Ekstasis’ from the crowd, and what at first seemed unexpected now feels completely necessary in creating her unique sound. All this occurs against Julia Holter’s unmistakable voice veering between ethereal and haunting. There definitely seems to be a gothic presence to this record with moments that hark back to the dark sounds that emerged in the late 80’s, but there is no doubt that this is a contemporary album with a very current sound. On first listen it would be very easy to dismiss this record as another release in the recent boom of electronic music. I immediately compared it to ‘Halfaxa’ by Grimes and Liz Harris’ Grouper. Whilst there are similarities to both, it only helps establish her name alongside them as a new sound and movement for this decade. I just hope this wave doesn’t become too oversaturated, as I would hate to get bored of these albums.