Julien Baker and Torres made a country album together. We knew this was coming, but it's no less exciting now that it's official. These two indie veterans are both Southerners -- Baker from Tennessee, Torres from Georgia -- and they've both had lifelong relationships with country. But the album represents the first time that the two of them have actively participated in the genre. There have been rumors about a Baker/Torres collaborative album for years -- they apparently started talking about the idea after playing a 2016 show together in Chicago -- and they've been heavily teasing it for months. Today, we learn that the new LP is called Send A Prayer My Way. It's coming this spring.
Last October, Torres joined Julien Baker onstage in New York, and they debuted a couple of songs. In December, Baker and Torres performed one of those songs, "Sugar In The Tank," on The Tonight Show, and they released it as a single shortly afterward. They also played a last-minute show at New York's Mercury Lounge, where they debuted a bunch of other new songs and covered Songs: Ohia's "Farewell Transmission" and Tim McGraw's "Something Like That."
Baker and Torres co-produced the new LP with Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin. Along with the album announcement, they've shared "Sylvia," another song from the new album. The track is mostly built around Bakers and Torres' harmonies, which are stunning. Its lyrics plays on the wandering-lover trope, but it's really about Torres' dog. Here's what she says about it:
The morning I went to pick up my dog Sylvia from an upstate shelter, I was at home making my coffee and I turned on WFMU and Dolly Parton’s "Cracker Jack" was on. I burst into tears -- it felt like the universe was telling me she was going to be mine. (Sylvia was only meant to be a foster.) I remember thinking that I’d love to write a song like that, a song that people could feel in their chest within five seconds of turning on the radio, because anyone who has ever had the honor of sharing a home with a beloved pet knows that a pet is family -- they’re the best friends you could ever have.
The stately black-and-white "Sylvia" video seems to be mostly shot at the duo's Mercury Lounge show, and Baker's homie Lucy Dacus makes a cameo. Below, check out "Sylvia" and the Send A Prayer My Way tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Dirt"
02 "The Only Marble I've Got Left"
03 "Sugar In The Tank"
04 "Bottom Of A Bottle"
05 "Downhill Both Ways"
06 "No Desert Flower"
07 "Tape Runs Out"
08 "Off The Wagon"
09 "Tuesday"
10 "Showdown"
11 "Sylvia"
12 "Goodbye Baby"
Send A Prayer My Way is out 4/18 on Matador.
