In the Same Room

The crisp and urgent execution on this recording has been immaculately produced, the overall result being an immediacy that only an accomplished performer and ensemble can achieve. [May 2017, p.47]

Those seeking out a Julia Holter live album aren’t looking for pop thrills, but rather mature, sophisticated compositions performed by accomplished, unbound musicians. It is here in spades.

The album presses pause on Holter and her band at an uncomfortable moment of transience--when their relationship to these years-old songs is clearly comfortable but also mildly antagonistic. However, they still manage to bring out the richest valences of Holter’s pristine and eccentric songs, and more than ever before, communicate her incredible skill as a passionate, intuitive, and controlled performer.

In The Same Room gives us more intimately friendly insight into the beguiling world of Julia Holter, seen here as thoughtfully poised and careful not to intimidate the listener, making this breezy recording a good entry point for novices in Holter's catalogue.

Each of Holter's studio albums showcases her skill at transporting listeners into the worlds she creates; on In the Same Room, she brings all of these worlds together in performances that are equally intimate and spectacular.

Julia Holter’s is a talent best shown stretched, pulled-out and free-flowing in live performance. This recording environment suits her just right.

It’s a richly rewarding album that offers a valuable snapshot of an evolving artist.

Holter is a master at conjuring up beguiling atmospherics. Here, backed by her usual live touring accompaniment of drums, viola and double bass she concocts a variety of striking permutations on familiar work.

She proves herself to be radiance incarnate swarming the music world, the bees of her mind trapping fragrances and stinging them out, both compelling and unapologetic. In the flesh, even more so.

These re-workings reaffirm her as a tour-de-force and an example of a truly one-of-a-kind musician whose music stands at the crossroads of high art and popular music.

In the Same Room is spacious and restrained, at times offering concentrates of the songs’ emotive fundamentals. It’s also further occasion for Holter to sharpen material or else mine it for new meaning.

The great success of In The Same Room is that it achieves the admirable feat of making us feel intimately close to each performance.

Holter’s work revisiting her catalog offers a glimpse into her artistry and songwriting, and a solid addition to the career In the Same Room overall compliments.