This page is dedicated to an artist profile of my choosing. I decided to pick an artist who is making some of the most touching, heartbreaking songs of this generation. I decided to pick Julien Baker.
I first heard of Julien when she was listed as a possibility as a musical act to come to Hendrix two years ago. Curious, I checked out her NPR Tiny Desk concert from March 2016. And she blew me away. You wouldn't think she'd be able to, just one slight young woman with her electric guitar. But Julien's uncanny ability to channel some of the deepest human longings and sorrows into her voice and guitar is incredible. I suppose one could call her voice equal parts somber and lovely. I've never gravitated to the singer-songwriter form as much I've gravitated to rock or metal, so it's a testament to Julien's unique talent that she not only got my attention, she captivated me.
Julien Rose Baker, 22, is originally from Memphis, TN, and played in a band called Forrister with friends of hers before she became interested in writing songs alone. She released her first full-length project, Sprained Ankle, on 6131 Records in October 2015. Two songs from that album, the title track and "Something", are featured in the Tiny Desk concert above. I remember listening to the album for the first time, letting Julien's voice wash over me as her shimmery guitars cascaded through. Her songs are small and simple, meaning there is little to get in the way of her lyrics, which elevate every song to a level of emotion most singers just don't send me to. "Something", for example, has this way of sharing every ounce of heartache Julien feels. But perhaps it's the closing track of Sprained Ankle, "Go Home", that hits the most, a slow piano ballad where Julien airs an episdoe of self-loathing and depression. I'm nearly (or fully) brought to tears every time I hear it.
In early 2017, Julien released two singles, "Funeral Pyre" (also featured in the above Tiny Desk) and "Distant Solar Systems." She moved from 6131 to Matador Records where she currently is signed. In October 2017, she released her second studio album Turn Out the Lights. This album features more diverse instrumentation than Sprained Ankle. Several tracks feature piano and strings with guitar interspersed as well, yet Julien's voice remains the pilot of each song. Tracks like "Appointments" begin slowly and quietly before a slight crescendo and the raising of Julien's voice to a more passionate higher register, and then settling. Again, there's nothing complicated about the song structures on Julien's albums. Its her truly captivating voice and atmospheres that lend the songs such gravity.
Julien Rose Baker, 22, is originally from Memphis, TN, and played in a band called Forrister with friends of hers before she became interested in writing songs alone. She released her first full-length project, Sprained Ankle, on 6131 Records in October 2015. Two songs from that album, the title track and "Something", are featured in the Tiny Desk concert above. I remember listening to the album for the first time, letting Julien's voice wash over me as her shimmery guitars cascaded through. Her songs are small and simple, meaning there is little to get in the way of her lyrics, which elevate every song to a level of emotion most singers just don't send me to. "Something", for example, has this way of sharing every ounce of heartache Julien feels. But perhaps it's the closing track of Sprained Ankle, "Go Home", that hits the most, a slow piano ballad where Julien airs an episdoe of self-loathing and depression. I'm nearly (or fully) brought to tears every time I hear it.
In early 2017, Julien released two singles, "Funeral Pyre" (also featured in the above Tiny Desk) and "Distant Solar Systems." She moved from 6131 to Matador Records where she currently is signed. In October 2017, she released her second studio album Turn Out the Lights. This album features more diverse instrumentation than Sprained Ankle. Several tracks feature piano and strings with guitar interspersed as well, yet Julien's voice remains the pilot of each song. Tracks like "Appointments" begin slowly and quietly before a slight crescendo and the raising of Julien's voice to a more passionate higher register, and then settling. Again, there's nothing complicated about the song structures on Julien's albums. Its her truly captivating voice and atmospheres that lend the songs such gravity.
In the middle of her fall 2017 tour, Julien played for NPR again in a second Tiny Desk concert, where she played "Hurt Less", "Even", and "Appointments", all from Turn Out the Lights. "Hurt Less", my favorite track from the album, is a perfect showcase of why I love Julien's music so much. There's some light instrumentation with only piano and violin and Julien's voice. The song is about apathy about one's well-being in the face of depression and how important it is to have friends by your side dedicated to helping you. Julien moves from this apathy to conversations with her friends to the resolution of being okay with going on because of how healed she feels by the company of her loved ones. In the recorded version, Julien, backed by some very tasteful male background vocals, reaches a little higher in her range, and the effect is mesmerizing. This is the power of Julien Baker, a simple somberness balanced by an enchanting voice calling out to the soul in the listener.
I make Julien sound like she has a dim outlook on life and that she intends to put her audience in a certain emotional state with her music. But she herself has said that she has a generally positive outlook. She's had to work to get there; certainly, writing and performing her songs has been a sort of catharsis for her. Although she has become very used to fans telling her that that they've had a good cry while watching her perform, she doesn't see her shows the same way. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, she said, "Honestly, it's just me up there, with a guitar, making some loops, singing some songs, and sometimes people cry." For her, placing her audience in such an emotional space is so natural she doesn't feel like she's trying. Of course, I wouldn't want Julien to constantly be in a state of malaise in order for her to play her songs, but its nevertheless fascinating that her construction of a certain liminal musical space is effortless and perfectly suited for her music.
Finally, I would be remiss without mentioning religion. This is, after all, a website about religion and popular music. Julien was raised Christian and still identifies. In an interview with The New Yorker, she said that she grew up resentful of traditional religious power structures, especially as a teen who went through addiction (and then rehabilitation) before coming out as gay to her parents. In another interview with FaceCulture, she stated that she is still critical of the ways some churches are a source of pressure to deny who you are. For her, a critical point in her faith development was "learning that love...of the divine, a love for God, does not have to have to result in a shame of being human. We can accept our failures and not call ourselves broken and ugly things..." She doesn't see herself as an evangelist when she plays shows, but she does consider her spiritual beliefs to be inextricably bound to her music. Redemption, certainly, is a theme that comes through in many of her songs. Not the kind of redemption where one accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior and suddenly all problems go away. Julien is much more interested in the idea of recovery and overcoming obstacles through love of the divine as well as relationships with loved ones. This sense of longing, maybe with a slight tinge of hope, permeates her music.
Julien Baker, I believe, has a bright future ahead. I hope that many more people discover her music and allow it to move them however it may. Intentionally or not, her songs are a shimmering, beautiful kind of catharsis, one that invites the authentic self to find love and redemption in the face of life's misery.