Awakening The Beast In Me

Julia Holter “Maxim’s II”

Julia Holter’s songs “Maxim’s I” and “Maxim’s II” are inspired by this scene from the 1958 film musical Gigi in which the title character enters a popular restaurant with a famous man and immediately begin to gossip about her.

You don’t really need to see this or know about this to enjoy either song, but I think “Maxim’s II” is improved by having this context in mind. Holter turns the scene inside-out both emotionally and musically, emphasizing the woman’s sense of the scene, and flipping the jovial, bombastic arrangement into this blaring, disorienting haze of horns and percussive clatter. She makes you feel as overwhelmed and excited as the character without altering the scene and making her very aware of how the people around her are responding to her. But you do get the feeling that she’s concerned that all these people are thinking exactly what they’re thinking.

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