Watching Julien Baker perform is kind of like watching someone vomit up their own heart: it’s visceral, and the emotions she’s conveying feel tangible, and it’s an understatement to say that it won’t always be neat and tidy. It’s one thing sharing that with a group of people in a bar basement, but quite another to do it on late night television to an audience of millions. However, that’s what Julien Baker pulled off last night, when she played her second album’s title track “Turn Out the Lights” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, her first ever late night TV appearance.
Baker is a simple musician who emits huge, spiralling feelings and sounds out of her instruments and her own tiny frame. It’s an impressive thing to watch, and the Colbert performance replicated the intimacy and skill of her live act nobly. Have a watch above.
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