Julien Baker // The Lexington, London, 2019 – Tom Baker
There’s something magical about emotional intimacy: it’s beautiful, strangely embarrassing and usually reserved for the people you trust the most. However, on the 8th of June 2019, Julien Baker stood alone on a stage and bared her soul to a room full of strangers.
Initially, people were quiet, almost as if they were witnessing something private. But as Julien sang the words “I know myself better than anybody else, you’re gonna run when you find out who I am” the crowd suddenly burst into life. Usually during gigs the voice of the crowd becomes homogeneous, but in that tiny room each individual person could be heard and as we all turned to look at each other… all we could do was laugh.
At that moment we unconsciously shared a part of ourselves: a fear we had, an experience we lived. As everyone—Julien included—looked around sniggering you could feel a weight being lifted. Throughout her set and her career Julien has strived to be better and to overcome adversity, in the belief that things will turn out alright. Whether it was intentional or not she showed me that there is bravery and beauty when it comes to confiding in strangers.