Julien Baker spent much of 2016 riding the wave that her sparse, melancholy debut Sprained Ankle had kicked up. The nine-track LP was glacial, so never likely to grab an audience by the throat immediately. Instead, the record spread slowly, grabbing a person at a time, eventually leaving her with the type of awe-struck crowd that her tracks demand.This morning, Baker announced that she'll be signing to Matador Records, home to Fucked Up, Savages, Cat Power, and Perfume Genius, among others. She'll be touring this spring across the US, UK, and Europe, too, and you can check out all of those dates by clicking here. Most importantly, though, the news comes along with a new song, "Funeral Pyre," which you can listen to below.The track will be familiar to anyone who saw Baker perform live in 2016; it was her stock new song for a while, occasionally ending up with the moniker "Sad Song 11." It is, as that working title suggests, another delicate track, finger-picked and pretty with a heavy heart.The track will be the A-side on a new 7" to be released March 17 on her new label, backed up with another new song, "Distant Solar System." Sprained Ankle will see a re-release on Matador then, too. In the meantime, you can listen to "Funeral Pyre" below.Photo by Nolan Knight via Matador Records.
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