Sprained Ankle, Julien Baker’s initially self-released 2015 debut, gained critical acclaim for its painstaking, delicate and melancholy depiction of her mental health. When the Memphis singer-songwriter came out to her parents aged 17, her father scoured the Bible for chapters on acceptance. These highly personal songs again explore her sexuality, Christianity, self-doubt and isolation. This first effort for a larger label has a hymnal atmosphere, in which the turbulence shows in her words. “The harder I swim, the faster I sink,” she sings in the spellbinding Sour Breath, while Shadowboxing finds her rueing, “You’re everything I want and I’m all that you dread”. Her vocals are as pure as crystal, although the Snow Patrol-like pattern of hushed verse/epic chorus can sound formulaic. Her guitar and piano now come with string arrangements and a big, satin-finish production, which takes baby steps towards a mainstream audience, although perhaps some of her magical fragility is being lost.
