Welcome to Ear 2 Da Sky! Each week, I will be going over topics within music culture and reviewing albums and EPs across genres, eras and artists that are submitted by readers like you and listeners of my radio show every Monday at 11 p.m. on WHUS 91.7 FM! For this week’s submission, I will be going over Julien Baker’s “Turn Out the Lights.”
“Turn Out the Lights” is Baker’s second studio album, releasing Oct. 27, 2017, following her 2015 debut “Sprained Ankle.” The first track “Over,” opens up with a creaking door, following the footsteps of Baker to a piano she then continues to play, backed by what can be heard to be the violin, saxophone and clarinet. The melody seamlessly carries onto the next track by Baker’s guitar.
Track two, “Appointments” is one of the more popular songs off the album. She contemplates the downfall of her relationship partly due to what we can assume to be the artist’s personal mental health. “And ’til then I should just try not to miss any more / Appointments” is a line that has continued to sit with me even after listening. In the midst of falling into a downwards spiral and facing the end of a relationship, Baker carries the weight of blame thrown by the other half of this relationship.
Followed by this is track three, the namesake of the album, “Turn Out the Lights.” On this track, Baker highlights her personal challenges with depression and what comes with it, narrowing in on loneliness. In the isolation or — “the darkness after turning out the lights” — she comes to understand that as she continues to sit with her thoughts with nobody to pull her out of this proverbial hole, she is left to deal with her issues on her own; understanding self-sufficiency within.
The seventh song, “Everything to Help You Sleep” delves deeper into her struggles with mental health. She embodies the feeling of emptiness in this slow and somber backing track to her pleads for freedom of mental turmoil. This is followed by track eight, “Happy to Be Here.” Baker lists off dream scenarios of her own life and how she would be able to fix this life if given the opportunity to live another one. She writes about her drug usage as a way to mask her struggle and give her something to hide behind. Ultimately opening up about the lack of enthusiasm to get clean but going through with it as a way to push forward. Baker also talks about her relationship to Christianity, as she is aware that no matter how hard she tries to hide, she knows “there is nowhere I can hide / From your humiliating grace.
After the success of her debut album “Sprained Ankle,” her follow-up “Turn Out the Lights,” shows off her maturation as an artist and her development, simply, as a person. She leaves it all on the table for the listener to hear, letting all of her fans know that you don’t have to go through it all by yourself. Throughout the entirety of “Turn Out the Lights,” we follow Baker’s personal strife and struggle with mental health and the impact it’s had on her relationships, career and ultimately herself. She beautifully intertwines her personal struggles with her connection to faith, identity and growth.
Rating: 4/5
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