Julia Holter - Aviary

In recent years, double LPs have been few and far in between. This latest entry from Julia Holter is top-shelf material, for it contains no filler to be heard throughout its 90-minute journey. That’s what “Aviary” is, a journey following highs and lows, a constant rush of vocal exercises, along with a blistering array of modern and classical instrumentation to keep the listener trained to each and every sound emanating from the record. Once again, concerning its length, it needs to be stated that in an era of rushed material, not a minute goes by where something new doesn’t occur. And the fact that it was produced by only one individual (besides herself) is a testament to just how much work was involved in releasing this much beauty in one go. The multitude of genres and homages to bygone musical periods, along with the seamless pairing of sporadic modern studio mastery is unlike any album of this duration in quite some time.