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Have You In My Wilderness

LA-based Julia Holter’s fourth full-length album is a vibrant, sparkling ocean of a thing. Two excellent singles bob brightly on its surface. The charming 'Feel You' with its bouncy melodies opens the album with a gentle playfulness, while 'Sea Calls Me Home', with its Nico-esque vocals and swaying pop beats, is so good it even withstands a sax solo.

With those more immediate tracks tempting you to wade in deeper, the rest of the album is awash with thoughtful and inventive dreamscapes, all flowing back and forth while Holter’s intimate thoughts overlap like the waves.

The haunting 'How Long', where Nico (again) meets Daniel Knox, is another highlight, gradually leading to a sinister fortune teller’s vision where “all the people run from the horizon”. Meanwhile, 'Lucette Stranded on the Island' shimmers and glows like a Martian sunrise.

Lyrically, it feels like a collection of single moments that have each been caught in a bubble and are passing slowly by, a few minutes of her life here and there captured through a soapy glaze. “I'm standing here on the ground / Betsy, my arms stretched out, looking up.”

Produced by Cole Greif-Neill (Beck, Caribou, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti), this elegantly creative and highly original album is more accessible and welcoming than Holter’s earlier work and withstands much repeated listening. You can either sit and watch the songs float by or let them slowly immerse you from the feet up.

Nat Loftus