Albums to watch

Little Oblivions

Julien Baker

Little Oblivions

Third album of indie dream pop from Tennessee-born singer-songwriter produced by Calvin Lauber

ADM rating[?]

8.0

Label
Matador
UK Release date
26/02/2021
US Release date
26/02/2021
  1. 10.0 |   Albumism

    While the lyrics remain as precise and evocative as they have always been, there is a change of tone from Baker’s previous work
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  2. 10.0 |   A.V. Club

    With Little Oblivions, the singer-songwriter has made her most cohesive record yet. The resuscitation of a heavier sound works in Baker’s favor, while she still adds hints of the fragile gentleness that has captivated fans since her Sprained Ankle days
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  3. 9.1 |   Consequence Of Sound

    The singer-songwriter's third album finds her searching for answers that refuse to come easily
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  4. 9.1 |   Paste Magazine

    Taking cues from Frightened Rabbit, Baker delivers a rock album for both arenas and living rooms
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  5. 9.0 |   Under The Radar

    The expanded sonic palette reimagines the possibilities of her music and makes for Baker’s most dynamic work yet
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  6. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    Little Oblivions is generous and giving; it's not only a public display of personal catharsis, but also an act of collective commiseration and an invitation to heal
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  7. 9.0 |   Clash

    A dazzling record with a crushing sense of beauty
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  8. 8.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    Blossoming her one-woman show into an overwhelming soundscape of loops and effects, Baker nonetheless remains one of the most lyrically direct and bracing acts in modern music
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  9. 8.4 |   Gig Soup

    If your heart was won by Julien Baker following the release of Sprained Ankle in 2015, as long as you're open to changes in instrumentation, you will not be disappointed by Little Oblivions
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  10. 8.2 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    This is the kind of album you make eye-to-eye with the abyss, much like the one we've all been staring into for a year or more, except the apocalypse on Little Oblivions is plainly internal
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  11. 8.0 |   Northern Transmissions

    Whether or not Julien Baker deserves another chance, Little Oblivions shows she made the right call by stepping away to focus on herself and coming back stronger and more surefooted than before
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  12. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    This is sensitive, heartfelt and resolute rock music that shuffles its feet while looking at the stars
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  13. 8.0 |   The FT

    The singer-songwriter’s latest album takes on the cycle of addiction
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  14. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Merciless self-criticism is largely contained within the bounds of indie rock on Baker’s out-there third album
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  15. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    The Boygenius alumna’s third solo album sticks with the forensic self-examination but the music is a whole new experience
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  16. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    A record of often intense, sometimes perilously dark, self-reflection
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  17. 8.0 |   Gigwise

    Dripping in brutal honesty
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  18. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The singer-songwriter upgrades her erstwhile folk style to accommodate a harder rock approach
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  19. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    One of the best young singer-songwriters in indie rock reaches for a bigger sound on her third LP
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  20. 8.0 |   NME

    Unlike her earlier work, the Tennessee musician's third album features a full band, taking her anguished stories to greater heights
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  21. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Everything on Little Oblivions will make you feel, and it's the catharsis we all need. Print edition only

  22. 7.6 |   Pitchfork

    On her third album, Julian Baker’s self-lacerating storytelling gets a more expansive canvas to work with. The big, full-band sound makes all the small moments of pain surreptitiously devastating
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  23. 7.0 |   No Ripcord

    In Oblivions, Baker has undeniably tapped into her unexplored potential—though there's also a nagging sense that these changes feel like a lateral move and not a progression
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  24. 7.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    In widening her sonic palette Julien Baker has given herself more scope for welcome emotional catharsis
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  25. 7.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Rarely does an artist so eagerly present themselves in relentlessly un-pretty circumstances, that it makes listening equally as uncomfortable and as it is captivating
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  26. 7.0 |   All Music

    Despite the bigger sound on average, however, Baker's brutal lyrical authenticity remains the main attraction
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  27. 6.6 |   Beats Per Minute

    Little Oblivions doesn’t so much feel like a step to a higher point as so much as a stumble that Baker has made to look as graceful as she can
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  28. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    The overall tone conveys something beyond Baker’s previous records, and sketches out an intriguing template for future work
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  29. 6.0 |   Mojo

    It can be vague on the details, but Baker's songwriting is smart and serious enough to keep Little Oblivions from burning out entirely. Print edition only


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