Julia Holter

Ekstasis

Ekstasis is not the sort of oceanic wash you lose yourself in; instead, Holter's music has a way of snapping tiny moments and small sonic gestures into focus.

Ekstasis is a challenging listen, but a rewarding one. It’s fiercely experimental and aggressively unfamiliar. Yet it’s an album that doesn’t try to intimidate or hide within its unfamiliarity.

It’s an album that shows a mentality shift rather than a stylistic one, but its a shift that has taken a good artist and made her great.

The reward that her music offers is substantial, as Ekstasis is one of the most unusual and unprecedented indie pop albums to come along in quite awhile.

Although it’s possible to find minor disappointments and flaws in Ekstasis’ skilfully woven tapestry, this should not obscure Holter’s manifest talents.

Ekstasis sounds cleaner than its predecessor, Holter’s pop sensibilities and craft more sharply defined.

Ekstasis abounds with originality and depth; soars and sinks; expands and implodes; evolves and dissipates; crackles and breaks all within one cohesive sound.

Forget chart positions or blog hype: ‘Ekstasis’ reminds us that music can mean so much more. 

Ekstasis revels in the ‘open-ear decisions’ of its architect, winding its way along paths both sepulchral and ascendant, often in the same song.