Music

Julien Baker's 'Little Oblivions' Goes Deep And Gets Personal

XPN | By John Myers,

Published April 16, 2021 at 11:40 AM CDT

Nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface. Every situation is rich with nuance, there are a million questions to be asked, things to be taken into consideration. In life, there is rarely a quick fix, and Julien Baker knows that.

It's been a few years since her previous album, Turn Out The Lights, as well as her work with the trio boygenius. And on her new album, Little Oblivions, there's no rushing or shying away from the tough stuff. Engineered by Calvin Lauber and mixed by Craig Silvey (who both worked on Turn Out The Lights), Little Oblivions goes deep and gets personal. And that's also a good way to describe talking to Julien Baker: she never gives you an easy answer, she doesn't glide over a thought or feeling. It's like she's picking the world apart and examining it in real time.

Music

John Myers

Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.

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Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She is also involved with Canada's highest music honors: Since 2017, she has hosted the Polaris Music Prize Gala, for which she is also a jury member, and she has also been a jury member for the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.

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