Julia Holter arrived in Chicago on Saturday evening as part of her “Something in the Room She Moves” tour, playing at Cermak Hall with Discovery Zone opening. It was Holter’s first performance in Chicago since pre-COVID times.

New York/Berlin-based Discovery Zone is the solo experimental pop project of JJ Weihl. A multimedia operation, Discovery Zone juxtaposes 3D visuals with vibrant synthpop and ambient soundscapes, incorporating themes of science fiction, consumerism and technology-induced alienation into the imagery. She’s released two albums, “Remote Control” in 2020 and “Quantum Web” this past March. Discovery Zone’s set began with an automated voice introducing us to the project before the sensory extraordinaire began, immersing the room in polychromatic, futuristic imagery. That same automated voice closed things out, announcing that the wisdom relayed by way of Discovery Zone’s set would be uploaded and programmed into all of our brains. Hell yeah.

Fun fact: Julia Holter is from Milwaukee! She lived here until she was six before her family moved to Los Angeles. Holter’s sonic identity blends elements of art pop, chamber pop and ambient music. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in music composition and began independently releasing material in the mid 2000’s. Her official debut album “Tragedy” came out in 2011. Holter’s 2013 album “Loud City Song” became Holter’s first effort with a full cast of musicians, and 2015’s “Have You In My Wilderness” is her most commercially successful to date. “Something in the Room She Moves”, released in March, is Holter’s most recent album and is inspired by her newborn daughter. Her current live band consists of drummer-vocalist Beth Goodfellow, bassist Devin Hoff and synthesizer-bagpipes player Tashi Wada.

Holter’s set on Saturday was full of dynamic elegance. She played many songs off the new album in addition to a handful from “Have You In My Wilderness” (“Feel You”, “Silhouette” and “Sea Calls Me Home”) plus a few from “Ekstasis”, “Loud City Song” and “Aviary.” The dreamy visuals alternated throughout Holter’s set between layers of purple, blue and white animations as well as sequences of people feeling liberated in scenes of nature. For her encore, Holter began with a solo rendition of “Why Sad Song” from “Aviary” before her band slowly trickled back on stage to join her for a grand, chef’s kiss performance of “Betsy On The Roof” off “Have You In My Wilderness.”

Julia Holter is an impeccable performer; on top of her heavenly vocals and ethereally textured melodies, she allows her music to patiently breathe and build crescendos that organically blossom like a spring botanical garden. It was a real treat getting to see her!