Altered Zones

Los Angeles' Julia Holter seems to be singlehandedly leading a return to the kind of erudite and hyper-theatrical electronic music that put Brian Eno, Bruce Haack, and Laurie Anderson on the map, articulating the story of man's becoming-machine through synthetic washes and vocoded verse. Loosely based around Euripedes' Hippolytus, her highly anticipated Tragedy LP on Leaving Records approaches pop songwriting with the precision of a microtonal composer and texture with the ear of a noise kid. "Goddess Eyes," below, is a case in point; essentially a duet between Holter and her electronic self, it unfolds with the pacing of a dramatic aside. --Emilie Friedlander, Visitation Rites

MP3: Julia Holter: "Goddess Eyes"

Tragedy LP is out August 30th on Leaving Records. Read an interview with Julia Holter on Altered Zones