Funeral Pyre / Distant Solar System

Funeral Pyre / Distant Solar System

Memphis, TN-based songwriter Julien Baker is the latest addition to the renowned Matador Records roster. The 21-year- old’s devastating, delicate, plaintive, vulnerable debut album, Sprained Ankle (I could keep going with the adjectives, but really, “striking” might be my favorite, as the music completely captivated us and left us no choice but to add it to our roster), which was released in 2015. A previously unreleased song “Funeral Pyre,” is the title-track and A-side for Baker’s new 7” coming out on February 17 th on Matador. Only Baker can make such a darkly macabre subject so heartbreakingly gorgeous, her signature hushed-yet- lofty vocals soaring over a quietly fingerpicked melody, crescendoing into layered, almost-orchestral beauty. The B-side, “Distant Solar System,” will be available digitally and physically on release day. After extensive touring in 2015 and 2016 with the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Daughter, Pinegrove, and Death Cab For Cutie, Baker shows no signs of slowing down in 2017. Midwestern US audiences can catch her on a short run of dates this winter, which are followed by a lengthy European tour in the spring.