Appointments – Julien Baker

Beef up your 'mixtapes' with this growing collection of overlooked songs, old and new. One track, three times a week. Don’t forget to join in on the conversation, too.

‘It's just that I talked to somebody again/Who knows how to help me get better/Until then I should just try not to miss anymore/Appointments’

Phoebe Bridgers is the best known of the trio known as boygenius, but Julien Baker is no slouch as a solo artist either. Raised in a Memphis suburb, Baker leans on confessional songwriting over three fine albums of sad songs, drawing from her personal experiences with organized Christianity and teenage addiction among other themes, and adds fuller instrumentation with each release. On her 2021 album Little Oblivions she plays all instruments, including drums, bass, keyboards, mandolin, and banjo, which is a far cry from her guitar-and-voice only debut Sprained Ankle in 2015. She’s a slow burn who requires repeated listenings, but it’s rare to hear a song as beautiful in its sadness as 2017’s Appointments. Tears may flow.