Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights (October 27, 2017) Album • Page 16

I’ll listen to studio stuff I meant I wasn’t going to listen to the live videos out there

 

Fair! I mean with Julien though, 95% of videos are in a studio doing some live session. I haven’t watched much in the way of phone-recorded footage and whatnot.

 

I think I've heard half the album through the live songs. I have no patience, I'm desperate for new Julien. 27th shall be a joyous day!!

 

And Super Mario Odyssey.

What a time

To

Be

ALIVE!

 

I have 2 tickets the sold out Somerville, MA date for this upcoming tour. Saturday October 28th. Balcony aisle tickets. Willing to sell them less than I paid for - I just want someone to use them since I can no longer go!

 

Same day?! Deck the freakin' halls!

 

The wait for this album is absolutely killing me. Dying for a first listen or something like that. Anything.

 

New song "Hurt Less" played on this radio show, along with "Appointments." Around the 20-min mark
A Prairie Home Companion for October 7, 2017

 

Cheers!

 

eff it I'm listening to it

 

Some sickos in the unpopular opinions thread saying they don't love Julien. Rude.

 

i mean
sprained ankle is fine but one note for the most part, it shows potential but she definitely needs to progress

 

Sprained ankle is a really awesome record. Raw songwriting. She's like 22 years old lets all relax.

 

she was 19 when she wrote that record. which gives it even more reason to say that there's plenty of time for her to get it together
nobody said it was bad i don't know what you're getting so defensive about lol

 

Her music has yet to really click with me. I want to love it, but I just don’t. Maybe the new record will change that.

 

Sprained Ankle does one thing and one thing well (until Go Home, where she changes the sounds up a bit). She has the songwriting ability and voice, she just needs to deliver on her full potential...and Appointments definitely hints at that.

Super excited for this.

 

I think I just like Sprained Ankle much more than a lot of people around here do. I certainly think she still has plenty of room to grow and expand her sound, but I’m just not really seeing the one-note thing. That, or I’m misunderstanding what people mean when they use that phrase.

Regardless, I’m glad there is a lot of hype for her and the new record, and I hope it ends up being for everyone else what Sprained Ankle already is for me.

 

I definitely understand and can accept the criticisms addressed in the Unpopular thread, it took me a few listens for her music to really latch on to me.

I cannot wait for the new album though, and to see her in 2 weeks.

 

I’ll make another post later today explaining in some more detail why I feel so strongly about the album.

 

One glorious note

 

Ugh why is there not a new single? Is Hurt Less likely to be the next one?

 

What makes Sprained Ankle so good is how intimate it is.

 

Im laying in bed pretty exhausted, but here are some scattered thoughts about Sprained Ankle.

As @jpmalone4 already stated, the album’s greatest draw might be its intimacy. The album is stripped down to its basic components. It’s raw and elemental. It’s a late night in a dark bedroom. It’s a pair of headphones in, feeling like you’re the only one around even if you’re surrounded by other people. It’s a drive through an empty city.

A lot of that is created by Julien’s voice. Her ability to emote rivals that of singers twice her age with twice as much experience. Her vocals takes songs that would be good were they written by someone else and makes them great. This is also aided by her lyrics. Her lyrics are both personal and universal, and therefore extremely relatable. The way she writes about the different themes apparent on the record, but particularly depression, speaks to me in a way that not many artists can.

In this sense, my connection with the record is a very much personal one. I’d definitely say it was a case of “right place, right time” syndrome. I wanted and needed an album like this and an artist like Julien for a long time - someone who I can look up to and admire, yet someone who reminds me of myself - and when I found her, it felt like a void was filled. I see so much of myself in these songs that it’s almost uncanny. The weight of that emotional connection alone is enough to propel the album into rarified territory for me.

I understand that not everyone loves it as much as I do, but Sprained Ankle has become a source of immense comfort, solace, and inspiration in my life. Listening to Julien sing about her problems makes me want to seek help for mine, and that is something very few albums and artists can do for me.

I could honestly write a novel about what these 9 songs mean to me. I hope this helps elucidate why I’m so quick to jump to the album’s defense. 19 days until Turn Out The Lights, and 19 days until I can begin forming a connection all over again.

One last thing, for those who care: I scheduled an appointment to get my Vessels-inspired tattoo in two weeks.

 

Thank you for the insight, this was a really touching post for me to read, and I can empathise and relate to a lot of it. I’ve been been waiting on this album for a while now, and I can’t believe it’s so soon. I’m asking very excited to see this tattoo! Keep us in the loop!

 

Bump convinced me to throw Sprained Ankle on while my students work. Good stuff