Julien Baker & TORRES to Release Debut Album; Share New Single 'Sylvia'

After dropping hints for months and following the release of their first single "Sugar in the Tank,” Julien Baker & TORRES have announced the April 18 release of their debut album Send a Prayer My Way.

The album has been in the works since the two played their first show together in 2016 and at the end one singer turned to the other and said, “You know, we should make a country album.” This is the origin story, the stuff of legend in the world of country music, and the beginning of a collaboration between two artists already admired for their spare, elegant lyrics as well as the courage to share their struggles with those who love their music. It’s also the beginning of creating a work that, like the most enduring country albums, sustains and inspires, reminding both singer and listener that not one of us is ever totally alone in this world, that music is a steady companion. Pre-save Send a Prayer My Way here.

Ahead of the album, Julien Baker & TORRES also share a new single, Sylvia. With its yearnful lyrics, goosebump inducing harmonies, and swelling pedal steel guitar, the new track not only embodies the duo’s love of country music but highlights each of their singular approaches to songwriting and the genre. TORRES says, “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.”

Baker & TORRES first teased Send a Prayer My Way with the single “Sugar in the Tank,” which garnered acclaim from fans and critics worldwide. The duo capped off 2024 with a performance of the track on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The song became the #2 most-added track at AAA radio and currently sits at #30 on the chart. Reflecting Julien Baker and TORRES’ deep love of country music, “Sugar in the Tank” joyfully reclaims the genre’s traditions and iconography, which until recently felt exclusionary. Watch the official video—featuring original choreography by Stud Country co-founder Sean Monaghan, alongside star members of the Stud Country community, and directed by Caity Arthur—here.

About Julien Baker

A native of Memphis who began playing music in church as a child, Julien Baker shot to worldwide attention in 2015 with her show-stopping debut, Sprained Ankle. Recorded in only a few days, it was a bleak yet hopeful meditation on identity, addiction, faith, resilience and redemption. An intense and immersive performer, her live shows were described by The New Yorker as “…. hushed, reverential. The only sounds you hear between songs are her fingers as she tweaks the tuning on her electric guitar, scattered whispers between friends, and the rustling as the crowd waits patiently for Baker to start strumming again."

Baker's acclaim grew with 2017's Matador debut Turn Out the Lights and the following year's self-titled debut EP with boygenius, the trio she formed with fellow era-defining artists Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. With the release of her 2021’s solo album Little Oblivions, Baker cemented herself as "one of the leading female singer/songwriters of her generation, both for her music’s muted grandeur and lyrics that seem to dive headlong into emotional chaos" (Rolling Stone). The album was met with worldwide critical acclaim and supported with performances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden and CBS This Morning’s Saturday Sessions.

Baker reunited with boygenius in 2023 for their first full-length, the record, which won three Grammy Awards and was supported by the biggest tour of the musicians' collective careers -- including sold out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl.

About TORRES

TORRES is the pseudonym of Mackenzie Scott. She was born January 23, 1991, and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her wife Jenna, stepson Silas, and puppy Sylvia. She has been releasing albums and performing as TORRES since 2013.

What an enormous room is TORRES’ sixth studio album (her third with Merge). It was recorded in September and October 2022 at Stadium Heights Sound in Durham, North Carolina. It was engineered by Ryan Pickett, produced by Mackenzie Scott and Sarah Jaffe, mixed by TJ Allen in Bristol, UK, and mastered by Heba Kadry in NYC. The album contains 10 songs. Mackenzie wrote all of them. Sarah played bass guitar, synths, drums, organ, and piano. Mackenzie sang vocals, played guitar, bass, synths, organ, piano, and programmed drums. Additional synth bass, tambourine, and shakers were played by TJ Allen.

Photo Credit: Ybru Yildiz

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