Julia Holter's 'Materia' Offers a New Lens on Her Creative Process
The seven-track companion to 2024's 'Something in the Room She Moves' blends new songs with reshaped versions of earlier material. The record opens with 'The Laugh Is in the Eyes,' an asymmetrical, electrified tune with layered instrumental flourishes. Holter reworks the title track into two distinct compositions, 'Materia 2' and 'Materia 3,' warping the original nearly beyond recognition.
Materia arrives as a seven-song companion to Holter's 2024 album, released through Domino Records in the experimental genre. The record repurposes material from the earlier session, including the title track, which is split into two distinct variations that drastically alter the original's character. Holter's classical influences surface throughout, particularly her cited inspiration from medieval visionary Hildegard von Bingen, which shapes the album's cosmic textures and austere compositional approach.
The collection also includes "My Twin," a ten-minute piece that begins with sparse, echoing minimalism before building into dense layers of clavier and choral textures. Reviewer Linnie Greene notes that some tracks show their origins as leftover material, with the extended arrangements occasionally feeling unwieldy. The album's closing piece, "Materia 3," stands out for its brevity and use of silence, offering a more intimate counterpoint to the larger-scale compositions.
This release could resonate most strongly with devoted listeners of experimental and ambient pop, offering them a deeper window into Holter's revision process. For casual audiences, the album may serve as an accessible entry point into avant-garde composition, though its dense textures might limit broader appeal. The record's meditation on artistic completion—whether a work is ever truly finished—could spark conversation among musicians and critics about creative practice, potentially influencing how companion releases are framed and received in the wider music industry.