I had a kind of similar reaction to this as you did at first but it has grown on me a lot. If you feel like giving it another chance, check out the song Vessels. IMO it is easily the most moving song from a musical standpoint (Or the end of Go Home but for different reasons).
I was at some of her German shows this week and it was honestly one of the best concert experiences I've ever had. The first night she played the backyard of a building in Munich, it was dusk and we were all sitting on carpets on the floor: the setting was hauntingly perfect and her performance was very intense. I would attend her shows every night of my life to be honest, haha. I don't know how to include pictures, but here's what it looked like.
Blocked the person who said they got no emotional reaction to this. Don't need that kind of heartless in my life.
And maybe I should clarify, I was listening to this at work while doing work tasks on my computer, so wasn't fully concentrating, so I'll concede I wasn't giving it 100% concentration
That's beautiful! Like I said, I regret not going anywhere to see her, but it didn't align that way for me, even if I drove to Germany, that would be quite far away, and June is too chaotic at my job to take 2 days off too often ;( just went to your ig account and I see you really have seen a few of those shows - that's really awesome! And she went to Dortmund ehh, which is close to where my family lives, makes it even worse haha ;c ;p Hey this is actually exactly my first encounter with that album - saw it on ap.net AOTY list and thought I might spin it at work, it was background music as I didn't pay my full attention, but I liked it anyway, and then "Something" started playing and I got the biggest shiver on my spine, despite just mostly concentrating on work. Then I started listening more carefully, and I listened to the album like 5 times that same day, to me it's perfect, every song and sound. "Rejoice" is the one which is probably most engaging - what do you feel about that specific song? ;D
It's a shame you couldn't come, it was really beautiful. She makes slight changes to the setlist every night, and even the way she performs each song varies from show to show. The last show I attended I think she wasn't on her best night ever (although you probably could notice that only if you had seen her previous shows) but she still pulled out the most heartfelt and awe-inspiring performance of the 4 nights. It was probably my favourite performance-wise.
My yellow vinyl showed up today. Don't think I've ever had such a fast turnaround from hearing an artist for the first time to buying one of their records.
I wonder how quick it'll sell out. They never seem to press many and they go super quick as soon as new ones are in.
So jealous! ;D and that's exactly what I think about her after hearing all those sessions etc., she brings the emotion each time she plays. Also I noticed yesterday that she moved her show in Berlin tu Bi Nuu, which is freaking impressive - I've been there twice to see Brand New, and later Circa Survive, which were both quite big shows! ..Maybe next time I'll catch her touring nearer here, but I kinda doubt it's going to be somewhere in the back garden of a building ;d
Question - where has she said she is agnostic? Edit: as far as i know she is pretty open about her Christian faith? Julien Baker on Being Queer, Southern, Christian, and Proud | Pitchfork also, the end piano outro of "Go Home" is the melody of a hymn called "In Christ Alone"
She's absolutely Christian. She has said she struggled with and rejected the idea of it for a long time, but that's not the case anymore.
yeah I misspoke, I meant more-so struggling with faith (or in my case, a lack thereof in a southern baptist town) which I suppose isnt all that equitable but theres still a sense of comradery in grappling with ideas like religion that I find in Juliens music and in her general character.
She actually came back out and did "Go Home" as an encore, bummer that's not included in the video. Regardless I'm glad the video finally made it onto YouTube, that was such an incredible show and I love being able to revisit it.