Stomp-Box Fever

JULIEN BAKER HAS built her reputation on mesmerizing solo performances where she manipulates an arsenal of loopers and reverbs to create layers of guitar textures from her deft finger work. On her third album, Little Oblivions (Matador), that approach blossomed into lush full-band arrangements, all played by Baker herself.

“For the last two records, I would just show up to the studio, do a bunch of takes for a week and that’s how the song was,” Baker says of the sparse, cathartic , recorded in 2015 when she was just 20 years old, and 2017’s . “With these songs, it was fun to build layers and experiment. I feel like I’ve grown to appreciate the intricacy of production and just making interesting