Julia Holter, author of indispensable advanced pop albums such as ‘Ekstasis’ (2012) or the more traditionalist ‘Have You in My Wilderness’ (2015), returns with new work. ‘Something in the Room She Moves’ comes out on March 22 having been released with two previews, ‘Sun Girl’ and ‘Spinning’.
The title of ‘Something in the Room She Moves’ is a reference to the Beatles, but ‘Spinning’ – today’s Song Of The Day – has little to do with Liverpool. Perhaps it could very vaguely evoke their most experimental period, because the unusual, lame tempo of ‘Spinning’, rather, makes one think of Animal Collective.
The details of ‘Spinning’ (jazz instrumentation, synthesizer), however, make it sound like another of those fascinating and free compositions by the author of ‘Aviary’ (2018). It’s just that, even exhibiting very unconventional songwriting, ‘Spinning’ is another Julia Holter pop song.
Holter has said that ‘Spinning’ talks about “that passionate state you reach when you’re creating something, living in that moment, and what is that moment?” Holter sings about surrendering to a “pulse” and also the feeling of “expecting nothing and, at the same time, seeking everything.”
Holter has said that, with ‘Something in the Room She Moves’, he has tried to “create a world that sounds fluid, as if watery, evoking the internal sound of the body itself.” The songs on ‘Something in the Room She Moves’ are colored by two of Holter’s recent experiences, the death of one of her nephews, to whom she dedicates the album, and the birth of her daughter.
