Julia Holter: 2015

Ask Los Angeles native Julia Holter about the influences that have guided her last three albums — zigzagging from Colette to John Cage to Euripides—and this multifaceted musician smiles a little self-consciously. Although her earlier releases, like 2011’s Tragedy and 2013’s Loud City Song veered toward bold, esoteric concepts, Holter's new album, Have You In My Wilderness, is perhaps her most straightforward song cycle, a compilation of music written over the past five years.

But that’s not to say that Julia’s work is simple. Her songs, like the luminous “Feel You,” “Night Song,” or the epic “Lucette Stranded On The Island,” are enigmatic and expansive. She explores the mutable nature of memory and follies of the heart, and her songs often pose questions. Against intricate and pretty arrangements, Holter navigates both sunny nonchalance and darker introspection.

Holter visited FUV’s Studio A this fall, accompanied by drummer Corey Fogel, bassist Devon Hoff and violinist Dina Maccabee. She chatted about many things, including her frequent collaborator Cole M. Greif-Neill, her admiration for Scott Walker — the musician, not the politician — and her boyfriend’s beloved dog Frances, her co-star in the video for “Feel You.” 

And yes, Julia has a lot of photos of Frances, swaddled in blankets or galloping outside, on her iPhone.

[recorded: 10/23/15]