Julien Baker Wows Bowery Ballroom

“This time last year, Baker was a pretty normal college student studying English at Middle Tennessee State University, outside Nashville. Then, her debut album, Sprained Ankle, came out in October, and suddenly she was the center of the music press’s attention, becoming more musician than student almost overnight. Baker gives us an opportunity to indulge in grief for a little while, to grapple with the unfortunate things we go through. When her voice cracks as she sings on “Go Home” that she has “kissed enough bathroom sinks to make up for the lovers who never loved me,” a part of us cracks, too, and then starts to heal, if only a little bit.” — P. Claire Dodson