Julien Baker will release her new album Little Oblivions on February 26 (Matador Records).
On Thursday, March 25 she will perform her first streamed concert in support of the album. The show is taking place via STAGED, streaming pioneers Audiotree’s acclaimed virtual concert series. The fully-produced streaming concert will be broadcast from Nashville’s Analog (at Hutton Hotel), marking the first show from Nashville in the series.
Three screenings will air on March 25 to ensure fans worldwide can tune in during prime time. Screening times are 8pm AEDT, 7pm GMT, and 9pm EDT. Tickets start at $15 and are available exclusively at https://audiotree.tv/streams. Each screening will be available for 24 hours after the completion of the show, on-demand, so fans can watch the show as many times as they’d like. Special guest Mini Trees will be the support for Julien Baker.
To date Julien Baker has shared 3 singles from her forthcoming album Little Oblivions “Favor”, “Hardline” and “Faith Healer.” Fans can pre-order Little Oblivions here and the album will be available everywhere on February 26th (Matador Records).
During a recent at home performance for Seattle’s KEXP, Baker performed songs off of Little Oblivions as well as a cover of Soundgarden’s 1995 single “Fell On Black Days.” Watch the full session and interview with host Cheryl Waters below.
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 Colbert last 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. Pre Orders have surpassed 6000 units and to date “Faith Healer” has amassed nearly 2.5 million streams.
