Dee Holt
Dee Holt’s forthcoming EP "Makes Me Wonder" feels like the sound of an artist finally getting comfortable with uncertainty. Rather than chasing easy answers or dressing emotional confusion in glossy pop clichés, the Montreal indie-pop artist leans into the messier stuff: doubt, anxiety, relationships, grief and the uncomfortable business of figuring yourself out while everyone else seems to have a plan.
That gives "Makes Me Wonder" its real strength. Across its songs, Holt moves beyond the immediate bedroom-pop instincts of her earlier releases and into something more considered, spacious and emotionally assured. The melodies remain accessible, but there is considerably more weight behind them. This is pop music with its sleeves rolled up.
The already released ‘"Figure It Out" sets the tone beautifully, capturing that familiar feeling of desperately trying to make sense of where you're heading while knowing there probably isn't a map. "Relapse" takes things somewhere more intimate, while "How About You", her latest collaboration with German songwriter Chris James, provides a cathartic moment of its own — the musical equivalent of keeping your head together while everything around you threatens to fall apart.
Then comes "A Slow Goodbye", the emotional heavyweight. Written as a tribute to her late grandfather and incorporating his voice in the outro, it sounds like the point where the polished pop exterior drops away completely. It is personal without becoming overly sentimental, and devastating precisely because Holt allows the emotion to breathe.
There is warmth here, too. "Feels Like Home" brings a bittersweet sense of acceptance, while "Submarine’" completes a collection that feels less interested in neatly tying everything up than acknowledging that growing up is an ongoing process.
That honesty is what makes holt interesting. Her music has already found its way onto Netflix series including "My Life with the Walter Boys", earned attention from Billboard and Teen Vogue, and taken her onto major festival stages alongside artists including Noah Kahan and Marren Morris. Yet makes me wonder sounds like an artist resisting the temptation to simply repeat what worked. Instead, she is pushing forward.
There is a refreshing independence running through the whole project, from the international collaborations with Chris James, Tyler Skye, Tonino Speciale and Frida Amundsen to Holt's distinctive hand-drawn visual world. Nothing feels overly manufactured. Even when the production expands, the songs remain rooted in her own perspective.
And that's ultimately why "Makes Me Wonder" works: it doesn't pretend Dee Holt has everything figured out. It sounds like she doesn't — and she's perfectly okay with that.
For more information: Dee Holt
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