Little Oblivions - Julien Baker: Review

Julien Baker

is a Tennessee based singer-songwriter who first emerged in 2015 with a breakout debut album Sprained Ankle. She followed this up with a critically acclaimed sophomore album and as a member of the indie supergroup Boygenius with Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers. This collaboration explains the uncharacteristic 4 year gap between studio album releases that has lead to Little Oblivions.

Review By Lav:

While I enjoyed the versatility and creativity put on display on the short but incredibly sweet Boygenius project I haven't been quite as in love with Julien's solo work. While 2017's Turn Out The Lights was an improvement I saw Julien Baker as merely above average prescence in the incredibly saturated world of singer-songwriter music. While she is no doubt a gifted lyricist I feel like her music so often falls into the same painfully generic tropes of the genre. I heard a few singles that didn't get me particularly excited for the record as a whole, but now that it's here I've actually come around to it a bit. I think it's my favorite of Julien's projects yet and it's a shame the record starts and ends with rough passages. 

The lyrics from the album are pretty consistently engaging, even if at some points they feel like they could be coming from just about any bedroom singer-songwriter. But as some of the singles foreshadowed the lyrics are occasionally lone bright spots. The record opens up with three of its singles and I'm pretty mixed on all of them. Hardline is a LOUD introduction to the record that is probably going to have long time Julien fans double checking that they've put the right record on. The vocals are constantly being overpowered by the crashing percussion and the songwriting isn't beneficial to the track itself either which leaves the dramatic final crescendo feeling like it comes out of nowhere. Heatwave is decent while its on but it is on the shorter side and disappears completely out of nowhere when its done. The vocals are better here and their occasionally claustrophobic presentation is a very welcome artistic choice. Finally Faith Healer has some harsher guitar tones that will surely remind fans of this genre of Torres, but Julien isn't nearly as willing to experiment. The song has a sweet faced demeanor that sort of works with the instrumental fuzzing out in the background but also sort of works against its impact. 

Relative Fiction is the last track before the record starts to get good. It's a sonically engaging track with vocal layering that makes Julien's reserved performance feel more rounded out alongside the reverberating pianos in the background. I'm not quite as enamored with the track once the full instrumental rushes in but that may have more to do with the lack of any compelling refrains than anything else. The middle of this album features a number of really good songs in a row but it is sort of interrupted by the stark piano ballad Song In E. Vocally Julien is up to the task in terms of volume but when she reaches into her higher register on the track it never really feels as natural or beautiful as the rest of her singing. My bigger complaint about the song is that it does absolutely nothing to elevate itself over so many of the bog standard piano ballads you will hear when you listen to this genre of music with any consistency. 

Before we finally get to the records really good tracks there are two more songs to close the record off that I'm not too fond of. Highlight Reel is alright at first but the rapid fire percussion gets really old really quick and the dreamy atmosphere is presented in a way too overwhelming style for a song meant to sound this gentle and it makes the verses feel like a massive lull. I totally understand what Julien was going for with this one but I'd love to hear it performed more appropriately. Ziptie is a deflated closing track despite being a lyrical highlight. The drum patterns sound incredibly flat in the mix and the track features a number of the weakest refrains you'll hear on the entire album. Because of this the grand crescendo on the back half of the song feels totally unearned and the meek fade out that closes the record off is the very definition of anticlimactic. 

There isn't really a song on the record that I flat out hated, a lot of the lyrics are interesting and what Julien lacks in experimentation she clearly has in fundamentals. But when she puts all her talents together in more meaningful ways on more compelling songs they start to get really good really fast. Favor was the single that convinced me to give the record a shot with one of my favorite hooks I've ever heard in a Julien Baker song as well as some memorable storytelling. The song is a simple but incredibly relatable and recognizable moment on the record that I still really enjoy. Crying Wolf is a piano ballad with some of the best vocals on the album. I like that it isn't so stark from a mix standpoint as the track never feels alone and it makes a ton of sense when the guitars come crashing into the watery atmosphere. It also prevents the song from ever feeling stagnant of too slow and its the first song in the tracklist that really blew me away. 

Bloodshot is the very next track and it brings some tangible momentum right out of the gate. The drums are a big highlight but its primarily just good songwriting that makes both the instrumental rushes and instrumental gaps feel timely and exciting. Ringside is another hit with a much bolder, dare I even say heartland rock sounding instrumental. Julien presents a vocal swagger that I didn't even know she had in her and commands the loud atmosphere for a compelling performance of a well written song. Repeat is short but still manages a few great punches. The strained vocals are great and the lyrical content is communicated really well. When the tempo picks up and the drum lines work their way in the whole song just feels right. 

Unfortunately Little Oblivions isn't a major sonic shift for singer-songwriter music, despite being a change of pace for Julien herself. Like I said earlier I think this may be my favorite record of hers so far but I can't really tell if that's just because of how enamored I am with the high points and willing to overlook much of the tracklist being underwhelming. I wouldn't call the record severely flawed in any way and there are only a few tracks that I feel had any instrumental missteps but I also think it badly needs something more. Given how well known and frequently written about the limitations of the singer-songwriter genre are I won't harp on about it, but going forward I think Julien has a ton of potential to step her vocal and songwriting talents up by crafting bolder songs and truly standing out as an artist. 5.5/10

Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:

I like the framing of this cover. It's simple and to the point but where it shines is the layering of the words, both handwritten and structured type make it dynamic and something usually boring into a work with personality. The color corresponds with the photo and the white space on the sides gives much needed breathing room from the heaviness of the image and text. 6.5/10

For more singer-songwriter check out my review of Phoebe Bridgers Punisher here