Julien Baker shares ‘Heatwave,’ a single from her album Little Oblivions, out this Friday, February 26th. Watch the lyric video for ‘Heatwave‘ here. The track follows up Baker’s previously released singles, ‘Hardline,’ ‘Faith Healer‘ and ‘Favor‘ which features boygenius collaborators Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.
Julien Baker on ‘Heatwave‘
“Maybe it’s a trite or well-trod topic, but ‘Heatwave’ is really just about being confronted with how much time I spend worrying about things that are trivial. I was stuck in traffic because a car had randomly combusted, and it made me feel so stupid for being concerned with the things I had been anxious about earlier that day. It was just such a poignant thing, an event that communicated a lot of complex things in a single image. So I wrote a song about it. I know I’m not the first person to witness an atrocity and consider my own mortality or life’s fragility because of it, but that truly was my experience. Theoretically the lesson or symbolism to be interpreted there is that life is precious and it’s not worth it to give your time and energy to negative thoughts, but jesus, how could you be a person alive on earth right now and not have negative thoughts? It’s certainly less romantic to say that the consideration of life’s fragility made me feel relieved at my own inconsequence, but it’s true; it is comforting to think of the minuscule role everyone plays in the human drama, to realize we have more choice about what we give power over us than we maybe thought.”
This Friday, NPR Music will host a listening party event at 2PM EST via their NPR Music YouTube featuring Julien Baker and special guests Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) and journalist Jewly Hight in a discussion about the album. She also recently announced her first streamed concert in support of the album, taking place on March 25th. The fully-produced streaming concert will be broadcast from Nashville’s Analog (at Hutton Hotel) via STAGED, Audiotree’s acclaimed virtual concert series. Three screenings will air on March 25 to ensure fans worldwide can tune in during prime time. Screening times are 11pm NZDT. Tickets are available exclusively at https://audiotree.tv/streams.
The New York Times included Little Oblivions in their “11 Things To Look Forward to In 2021,” column noting “How does a songwriter hold on to honest vulnerability as her audience grows….she scales her music up to larger spaces, backed by a full rock band with ringing guitars and forceful drums. But she doesn’t hide behind them; she’s still ruthless and unsparing, particularly about herself.” Rolling Stone said “Little Oblivions‘ is not only the most richly produced, pop-aware release of Baker’s career, but also her the most unsparingly honest in its messiness” and Variety stated “While the basics of her autobiographical and cathartic songwriting style remain the same, the arrangements are far more fleshed out with multiple instruments, nearly all of which are played by Baker herself. Without pushing an obvious comparison too far, what Bridgers’ ‘Punisher’ was to 2020, ‘Little Oblivions’ is very likely to be to 2021.”
Julien Baker performed, ‘Faith Healer,’ on The Late Show With Stephen Colbertlast month. Filmed in Nashville, TN, Baker is backed by a full band, exemplifying the expansive sound that can be heard on the forthcoming album. Stereogum labeled the performance “stunning” while Rolling Stone noted, “Baker and her backing band moved through the expansive track and built steadily toward its final booming chorus. ‘Oh, faith healer,’ come put your hands all over me,’ Baker sings, pushing her voice to its stunning upper limits.” Calling Baker “one of the most powerful vocalists in all of music,” Uproxx labeled the performance a “powerhouse” – watch it here.
‘Faith Healer‘ introduced the exhilarating, widescreen musical palette and infectious spirit of risk-taking found on Little Oblivions, a transformative sonic shift from Baker’s more spare and intimate previous work. Engineered by Calvin Lauber and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Florence & the Machine, Arcade Fire), both of whom worked with Baker on 2017’s Turn Out the Lights, the album was recorded in Baker’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee between December 2019 and January 2020. Baker’s tactile guitar and piano playing are enriched with newfound textures encompassing bass, drums, synthesizers, banjo and mandolin, with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker. The album weaves unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and often hard-won observations from the past few years, taking Baker’s capacity for starkly galvanizing storytelling to breathtaking new heights.
In October the news of Little Oblivions upcoming release was a top 20 trending topic on Twitter and several special editions of the album (via Matador Records, Vinyl Me Please, Magnolia Record Club, 6131 Records, and Spotify) sold out almost instantaneously. Preorders are upwards of 6000 units and to date ‘Faith Healer’ has amassed over 2 million streams.
“A longing for relief — spiritual, physical, emotional — fills ‘Faith Healer.’” – The New York Times
“An anthem of vigorous hope” Fader on ‘Faith Healer’
“2020 needed more Julien Baker in it, and the emotive singer-songwriter came through.” – Teen Vogue
“Julien Baker remains devastating on new song ‘Faith Healer.'” Vulture
“Stunning” Nylon on ‘Faith Healer’
“The track marks a musical expansion for Baker,” Uproxx
“When Julien Baker sings, the people listen, and ‘Faith Healer’ — the raspy-voiced indie rocker’s new single — is no exception. The soul-baring cut is as much a song about literal addiction as it is an ode to misplaced faith.” MTV
“Mesmerizing” Billboard Pride on ‘Faith Healer’
“Baker’s guitar playing coils tightly and beautifully around her lyrics, which forthrightly tackle substance abuse, and the painful mental space it can occupy even for those who have managed to throw off its clutches.” Guitar World
Little Oblivions is the follow up to Baker’s 2017 sophomore album and first on Matador Turn Out The Lights. The New York Times said the LP is “the work of a songwriter who has resonated with an international audience (…), the rare second album that, despite new self-consciousness, stretches beyond an unspoiled debut to reach for even bigger things, with all its passion intact”. The Sunday Times said “the mix of detached vocals, lush arrangements and laid-bare post-mortems on love, loss, dysfunction and acceptance is devastating.”
In 2018, Baker formed boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The resulting eponymous EP and joint North American tour made for one of the most celebrated and talked about musical communions of that year, highlighting Baker at the forefront of a burgeoning generation of era-defining artists.
Baker shot to worldwide attention in 2015 with show-stopping debut, Sprained Ankle. Recorded in only a few days, it was a bleak yet hopeful meditation on identity, addiction, faith, resilience and redemption. MOJO called it “comforting as it is unsettling as it is cathartic”, while Pitchfork noted, “if you prefer redemption songs to sound as raw as they feel, Sprained Ankle could bring you to your knees”. The album went on to appear on many end of year lists.
An intense and immersive performer, her live shows were described by The New Yorkeras “…. hushed, reverential. The only sounds you hear between songs are her fingers as she tweaks the tuning on her electric guitar, scattered whispers between friends, and the rustling as the crowd waits patiently for Baker to start strumming again”.
Baker has collaborated on studio recordings with Frightened Rabbit, Matt Berninger, Becca Mancari, Mary Lambert, and on stage with Justin Vernon, The National, Sharon Van Etten, Ben Gibbard, Hayley Williams and others.
