Stephen Mejias

Julia Holter’s new album, Loud City Song, is scheduled to be released on August 20th, by Domino. This is Holter’s third album in as many years: Her limited-release debut, Tragedy (recently given proper and deserving reissue treatment by Domino), was met by almost universal critical acclaim, while her follow-up, Ekstasis, expanded her sound, solidified her standing as one of today’s most exciting young artists, and was one of my favorite records of 2012.

From the label:

The songs that make up Loud City Song have origins that pre-date 2011’s debut Tragedy—coaxed out and finessed as demos in Holter’s bedroom studio and then finally coalesced into one thrillingly cohesive experience in the latter stages of 2012 by Holter and co-producer Cole Marsden Grief-Neill and an ensemble of Los Angeles musicians. The result is an album of enormous ambition—Holter taking inspiration from Collette’s 1944 novella Gigi and using it as a prism through which to explore her relationship with her hometown of Los Angeles and modern life universally, taking cues from the work of Joni Mitchell and the poetry of Frank O’Hara, but forging those touch-points into something resolutely unique.

Loud City Song is Holter’s first proper studio release. And, judging by “World,” the album’s stark and lovely opener, it may very well be Holter’s most direct and powerful.

Last March, I got to see Julia Holter perform live for a tightly packed crowd of enthusiastic listeners at Other Music. She was charming, with the kind of captivating energy seemingly reserved for only the most special voices, but also kind, warm, and gracious.

Her summer tour, in support of Loud City Song, will take her from Washington, DC, to London, England:

7/11: Washington, DC—Sixth & I Synagogue
7/12: New York City, NY—Le Poisson Rouge
7/13: Philadelphia, PA—World Cafe Live
7/14: Boston, MA—The Church Of Boston
7/16: Montreal, QB—La Sala Rosa
7/17: Toronto, ONT—The Drake
7/18: Detroit, MI—Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
7/20: Chicago, IL—Pitchfork Festival
7/23: Lisbon, PT—ZDB
7/24: Madrid, ES—Theatro Lara
7/25: Cartagena, ES—La Mar De Musicas
7/26: Barcelona, ES—Caixaforum
7/27: Lyon, FR—Les Nuits De Fourvieres
7/29: Ravenna, IT—Hani-Bi
7/30: Modena, IT—Sant Augustino
7/31: Geneva, CH—Ecoutes Au Vert @ Barje Des Sciences
8/03: Katowice, PL—OFF Festival
8/04: Zilnia, SK—Stanica
8/05: Vienna, AT—WUK
8/07: Basel, CH—Im Fluss Festival
8/08: Haldern-Rees, DE—Haldern Pop
8/09: Hamburg, DE—Kampnagel Summerfest
8/10: Goteborg, SE—Way Out West
8/11: Helsinki, FI—Flow Festival
8/13: Ghent, BE—DOK
8/14: Saint Malo, FR—La Route Du Rock Festival
8/16: Brecon, UK—Green Man Festival
8/17: Skipton, UK—Beacons Festival
8/20: London, UK—Cecil Sharp House