Songs of 2017 - "Turn Out the Lights," Julien Baker

The sound of Julien Baker's "Turn Out the Lights" is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of "the Memphis sound."  Hearing it for the first time, it reminded me of the songs on Sufjan Stevens' "Carrie and Lowell" - songs with such a sense of fragility that you feel they might crash on themselves any second.

But near the end, Baker's guitar takes the fore, and it dawns on you that the song is not one about loss, but rather triumph - triumph over the daily circumstances which threaten to pull us all down, every now and then.

"Turn Out the Lights," Julien Baker.