Welcome to the Wilderness: Julia Holter live in London

That record, with its ear-catching classical arrangements and sublime pop songwriting, has turned Holter from a highly regarded cult concern into a Proper Big Name. The album heavily featured on blogs and newspapers’ best album of 2015 lists (it actually topped our own), with very favourable comparisons with the likes of Linda Perhacs and Kate Bush quickly being drawn.

Holter’s albums before Wilderness were more experimental, but certainly less personal. And tonight, her older tracks, with their obscure literary references, sparse instrumentation and distant vocals, maintain an admirable ability to confuse the uninitiated.

Wilderness is far more accessible, but far from unambitious in its arrangements: tonight's (15 February) live performance of “Betsy…”, with its delicate piano and viola, allowed Holter’s voice to shine over a simple yet soothing backdrop. London's Oval Space, surrounded by ominously looming gas power stations in the darkness, suits Holter’s music perfectly. There was something slightly unsettling about the atmosphere, which perversely only added to our enjoyment.

Although much of the crowd were likely introduced to Holter’s music by her most recent album, she ensured that she played a couple of older tracks as well - including a handful from debut album Tragedy, which she tells us were written when she was just a teenager. Where Have You In My Wildness is often soaring and orchestral, these songs were based around simpler vocal harmonies, and as "Goddess Eyes” rolls out, the audience was reminded of how different Julia Holter’s sound was when it first arrived four albums ago, and indeed how far this remarkable artist has come.