Jordan
Holt – Feral Children EP (Independent)
In 2012, Jordan Holt, a native of Minneapolis, decamped
to the plains of South Dakota to spend a year “in reflection and meditation”. His
“Feral Children” EP is the direct result of the time he spent away, and the
months of tranquility have informed a collection that is both eerie and pensive,
and also beautifully peaceful. It’s almost as if weights have been lifted and
simple pleasures rediscovered, and the effect on the listener is wholly
positive.
Comparisons aren’t easy to fathom. On various
websites, names like Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes and Dylan crop up, but
Holt’s new music doesn’t truly fit in with any of those folk. In fact, after
some thought, the only record I can think of that I could place alongside “Feral
Children” is Arthur Russell’s “World Of Echo”, insofar that both exist in a
netherworld of half-heard lyricism and spectral backing - though Russell is
very much a product of the avant-garde, while Holt comes from an acoustic folk
and Americana tradition.
The five songs presented here are difficult to
breakdown into separate entities, but repeated plays expose slight mood
adjustments and changes of emphasis. Once it gets under your skin, you’ll be
playing it constantly – I know I have. Its autumnal, afterhours feel is
enveloping and pervasive, and apart from there being too little of it, it’s a
stunning addition to a genre that doesn’t really exist.
Phil S.
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