Julien Baker, one of indie rock’s most consistently solid musicians for the past decade, is no stranger to sharing the spotlight, most recently as a member of the brilliant trio Boygenius. So, it’s no surprise that she opted to share the marquee once again, this time with fellow indie rock peer TORRES. What is a bit surprising is that the duo’s first (hopefully not last) collaboration, Send A Prayer My Way, is a country record.
Across a dozen tracks, Baker and Torres sing of heartache, loneliness and copying in a society that seems to be going out of its way to destroy any sense of empathy and decency. And lest you her “country” and are immediately tuned out thinking about the vibe of what mainstream country music is currently comprised of, with its red ball cap perched on mullets’ politics, this is definitely not that. Musically and emotionally, this is Outlaw country – back when Willie, Cash and Kristofferson talked onstage and off about helping the working class and poor, and those on the margins. This is proudly queer country.
“Bottom of a Bottle” is a tried-and-true drinking to forget your problems song, complete with fiddle, honky tonk piano and steel guitar complimenting pristine harmonies and visceral lyrics that hit home hard, while the beautiful album opener “Dirt,” with its acoustic guitar picking blending flawlessly with the shared vocals is about talking to your “first dial after last call” about what went wrong in life.
“Sylvia,” is a common theme in both rock and country music about touring the globe while the one you love is back home. The track is a high point, with the two managing to electrify a genre staple. The album closes on “Goodbye Baby,” with the two oddly talking about the difference between jelly and jam in the intro, is another song about being away from the one you love, knowing they will come back. It manages to be both sweet and confident – the perfect end to this record.
What makes Send A Prayer My Way so compelling is that – song for song – you have two superb singers working together rather than competing over the vocals singing some of the smartest lyrics the genre boasts.
