Here's the latest visual to go along with Julia Holter's excellent record Ekstasis. Directed by Naomi Yang of Galaxie 500/Damon & Naomi, the clip for "Our Sorrows" finds Holter winding a miles-long string maze through Los Angeles. Read Yang's director's statement about the video below, after Holter's upcoming tour schedule, which has been extended into the fall. She opens for Sigur Rós at a few West Coast shows.
Julia Holter:
05-31 Paris, France - Silencio
06-01 London, England - Cafe Oto
06-02 London, England - Field Day Festival
06-03 Manchester, England - Engine House @ IABF
06-04 Dublin, Ireland - Forbidden Fruit Festival
06-05 Leeds, England - Brudenell Social Club *
06-06 London, England - XOYO *
06-07 Stavenger, Norway - Tou Scene
06-09 Oslo, Norway - Only Connect Festival of Sound
06-10 Berlin, Germany - Berghain
06-12 Nuremberg, Germany - Across @ Neues Museum
06-13 Graz, Austria - Forum
06-14 Munich, Germany - Kong
06-15 Metz, France - Les Trinitaires
06-16 Lucerne, Switzerland - B-Sides Festival
06-17 Milan, Italy - Spazioconcept
06-19 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Mena Pri Koritu
06-20 Athens, Greece - Koo Koo Club
06-22 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar
06-23 Madrid, Spain - Cafe Teatro @ Dia De La Musica
06-24 Vigo, Spain - Festival Sinsal
06-26 Guimaraes, Portugal - Centro Cultural Vila Flor
06-27 Lisbon, Portugal - Galleria Ze De Bois
07-03 Cologne, Germany - King Ludwig @ Museum Ludwig
07-04 Dresden, Germany - Thalia
07-05 Berlin, Germany - HBC
07-06 Malmo, Sweden - Debaser
07-07 Copenhagen, Denmark - Roskilde
08-08 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater #
08-09 Portland, OR - Edgefield #
08-12 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Forever #
08-24 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
08-31 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09-01 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
09-02 Washington, DC - Black Cat
09-04 Charlottesville, VA - Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
09-06 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Festival
09-08 Portland, OR - The Old Church
09-20 Portland, ME - SPACE Gallery
09-21 Montreal, Quebec - Church of St. John
09-22 Toronto, Ontario - Legendary Horshoe Tavern
09-24 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
09-25 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern
09-26 Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern
09-28 Champain-Urbana, IL - Pygmalion Music Festival
09-29 Cincinnati, OH - MidPoint Music Festival
10-01 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
10-02 Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum
* with Peaking Lights
# with Sigur Rós
Naomi Yang:
When I first listened to Julia Holter's "Our Sorrows", I was intrigued by the lyric in the chorus: "If you call out, I will follow." It didn't seem to me that it was a statement of devotion addressed to a lover, but more about Julia listening for inner direction. When I mentioned this idea to Julia, she emphatically agreed. She said that she often thinks of her music as something that is inside her, almost like an intuition that she allows to lead her.
In the opening scenes of the video Julia is wondering, questioning, trying to divine her future. She sets out onto the streets of Los Angeles, weaving a magenta ribbon throughout the neighborhoods. Perhaps using the ribbon as a marker to find her way home, perhaps as a visual metaphor for weaving together her experiences. Or perhaps she has just decided, for no good reason, that she wants to thread this ribbon through the city.
Julia and I developed the arc of the video as we worked, allowing what we filmed to determine where we would go next. We chose locations that in some way had a resonance to Julia's actual daily life in L.A., though I had an idea from the start that she should be making her way from an urban environment to a more pastoral one.
The filming of this video is a result of a personal journey for me as well: directing and filming music videos is something I have only recently started to do, and yet it feels so natural to me - drawing on my years of experience with still photography and playing music.