Little Oblivions is the third album from indie folk rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Julien Baker, and it’s a record that continues her journey, building on the simple, heartfelt majesty of her debut, Sprained Ankle, which laid bare stories of self destruction and drug abuse over sparse acoustic guitar and piano, and its follow up Turn Out The Lights, which expanded on its predecessor, sonically and emotionally.

Baker’s story is an interesting one. She grew up Christian and gay in Tennessee, and suffered with addicition before eventually finding sobriety. As a solo artist, and still just twenty-five years of age, she takes these experiences and channels them into some of the most intensely emotional, introspective and personal songs you can imagine. However she’s also found fame as part of the indie supergroup boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.

Bridgers and Dacus make an appearance on Favor, providing harmonies on the floaty, soaring track that disguises an anguished lyric (“I always wanna tell the truth / But it never seems like the right time / To be serious enough / I'm sorry I'm making myself cry”). Faith Healer, meanwhile, is positively jaunty by Baker’s standards with its neat effects-laden chorus, while Bloodshot, Ringside and the album’s lead single Hardline make use of some big drums to form some of the ehaviest tracks she’s done to date.

All of these songs have something in common, beyond packing the same gut punch as Baker’s back catalogue, but there’s a different feel to Little Oblivions. Sonically it’s more expansive than anything she’s done so far, with a wider range of tracks and richer, more layered constructions. Tellingly, Baker plays pretty much all the instruments on the record herself – this album may have a grander feel, but it’s still a one-woman show. 

And that’s where Little Oblivions excels. As a study of the mind that created it, it’s an album that is unflinchingly honest. It’s beautiful, pained, and deeply lyrical, and it feels like a fusion of an album and a self-portrait.

Little Oblivions tracklist:

1. Hardline
2. Heatwave
3. Faith Healer
4. Relative Fiction
5. Crying Wolf
6. Bloodshot
7. Ringside
8. Favor
9. Song In E
10. Repeat
11. Highlight Reel
12. Ziptie

Watch the official video for Hardline here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.