Album Review: Julia Holter Shows Her Many Sides “In The Same Room”

Can torment sound beautiful? Just that very statement seems chilling, but Julia Holter’s In The Same Room adds mystical imagery and novel-like lyricism that turns her new album into a sonic Brontë novel. Each track feels like it was ripped from the pages of Wuthering Heights to describe the turmoils and romance that stir when you fall in love, but Holter expands on what “falling in love” means.

I admire when artists expand on the scope of love to include how we love life and ourselves as seen in songs “Lucette Stranded On The Island” and “Betsy On The Roof”. Holter takes female-driven fables and places them to music that soundtracks their emotional journeys, which is why I adore this album’s arrangements. I am a huge fan of the violin, and when I heard its strings stream through songs “Horns Surrounding Me” and “How Long”, I could have cried from their epic build. Holter knows how to make music that feels fantastical in its earthliness. Tracks such as, “Sea Calls Me Home”, “So Lillies”, and “In The Green Wild” have the lyricism of a Walt Whitman poem or am. Ernest Hemingway description of how the human spirit and nature are not distinct; both are symbiotic in how they move. Yet, I elaborate, that the bigness of Holter as an artist and in her new record is that you feel its grandness through its simplicity. “Feel You” is goth-piano melody and a kick-drum that blends to make you think you have stepped into the Victorian version of love. Holter plays with her voice as if it is a character. For this track, it is a curious, smart dame like Elizabeth in Pride & Prejudice or Elinor in Sense & Sensibility. I know that I am comparing Holter’s In The Same Room to a lot of literature, but if listening to a song was ever the equivalent of reading a beautiful, good book then Julia Holter would lead the charge.

Holter’s voice is majestic in its adaptability to mold to sentiments and stories. From the mournful, melancholia that she slowly drizzles in “City Appearing” to the brighter, vocal ballet she performs in “Silhouette”, Holter sings music like an actress. No, she is not a Broaday Diva, and she does not belt through songs. She is crisp, slow, and dreamy in her utterances, which is why she is entrancing. Match that vocal hypnosis with poetry that is thoughtful in its observances of life, and In The Same Room is pure magic. Moreover, it was recorded live with altered instrumentals meant to capture some of Holter’s classic, most heartfelt songs. For me, any artist that can sound better and more wonderful live is someone to respect because live recordings capture their creativity while in motion. Click Here To Buy In The Same Room On March 31 And Learn More About Julia Holter.