What Julia Holter calls the “heart” of her third record (and Domino debut) Loud City Song, third single “Maxim’s I,” starts in a mass of cymbals and blossoms into a fecund, organic piece of slow-moving, ever-ascending classic pop. The dramatic, six-minute song (compulsively repeatable, due in part to its Ouroboros-like structure, with those same cymbals closing the track) gives Holter space to showcase her already strong vocals in a less claustrophobic environment. The track’s live instrumentation lends lines like “What of hearts, and diamonds?” a vocal pop bigness unusual to much of her older material, and the strength of her unlayered, all-but-effects-free voice shows a growing sense of artistic confidence. Here’s hoping that Holter took as much care with Loud City Song‘s other organs as she did with its heart.
TOUR DATES
08-08 Haldern-Rees, Germany – Haldern Pop
08-09 Hamburg, Germany – Kampnagel Summerfest
08-10 Goteborg, Sweden – Way Out West
08-11 Helsinki, Finland – Flow Festival
08-13 Ghent, Belgium – DOK
08-14 Saint Malo, France – La Route Du Rock Festival
08-16 Brecon Beacons, Wales – Green Man Festival
08-17 Skipton, England – Beacons Festival
08-20 London, England – Cecil Sharp House
09-11 Los Angeles, CA – First Unitarian Church *
09-12 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall *
09-14 Portland, OR – Holocene *
09-15 Seattle, WA – Barboza *
09-16 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret *
09-20 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center *
09-21 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern *
09-24 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *
09-26 Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel *
11-12 Brighton, England – Komedia
11-13 Manchester, England – Deaf Institute
11-14 Leeds, England – Howard Assembly Hall
11-15 Liverpool, England – Leaf
11-16 Bristol, England – The Cube
11-17 Dublin, Ireland – Dublin Unitarian Church
11-19 Dublin, Ireland – Whelans
11-20 Glasgow, Scotland – CCA
* with Nedelle Torrisi