JULIEN BAKER - Little Oblivions LP

Label: Matador

Singer-songwriter Julien Baker’s acutely observed confessionals have filled two acclaimed albums to date. By contrast, Baker’s third outing goes large, in every sense. These are tales about falling off the wagon, spectacularly; about hurting herself and other people, repeatedly, fleshed out by bass, drums and synths, most often played by Baker herself. Where her previous records tiptoed, Little Oblivions stomps on effects pedals. Album opener Hardline builds into a breaker of pent-up instrumentation for Baker’s voice to surf.

The writing here is bleak, self-excoriating and largely excellent. “The only kin I knew was who I could see from the gurney,” she reports on Favor, which features Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers – Baker’s bandmates in Boygenius – on backing vocals.

It’s a rare artist who can create an album that you could put on and only occasionally notice the horrors lurking in its lyrics — and “Little Oblivions” proves more than ever that Julien Baker is a rare artist indeed.