The Friday Dispatch
Julien Baker & TORRES, Lau Frías, Josie Oliver, emerson and more
Julien Baker and TORRES walk the line
Drawing on a decade of history and friendship, Julien Baker and Mackenzie Scott are geared up for the release of Send a Prayer My Way, a triumphant foray into country from two beloved songwriters. Facing a world that feels more sinister and foreboding by the day, their songs are a much-needed antidote, or, to borrow a phrase from the record: a flower in the desert.
“Just thinking about the same subject matter translated into a different musical dialect thing, there’s themes on this album that aren’t totally outside of our wheelhouses,” Baker says. “We write a lot about romantic relationships and longing. And there’s a couple of songs about drinking, women, being on the road and being lonely, not feeling like you belong to anybody or feeling like you’re an outsider. But, that’s also in my canon of subject matter because that is my life. Those are all things both of us wrote about in our prior musical catalog that didn’t have this sound attached to it.”
The cultural climate that Baker and Scott began the record in is not the same one in which it’s being released – and the change carries weight for them both. While Scott and Baker maintain that “queer country” is also just “country,” they acknowledge that the moment warrants a serious consideration of what their presence in the genre means and what it can do for others. As the US continues to split along ideological fault lines, the pair are staking their claim on cultural territory that many might try to see ripped away from them. They know the record is significant, and they’re ready for it.
“I didn’t expect it to be so prescient,” Scott says. “Like, I didn’t expect the timing of the album release and the tour – specifically being through the American South – to be something that felt as important as it does. It’s always been important to me. I’ve felt like this was important since we started the project. But it hadn’t felt like it was this important.”
This week, emerging sensation Joni releases her long-awaited debut, Things I Left Behind; Scandinavian indie rockers Clutter release their first EP, Loves You; Bon Iver returns with SABLE, fABLE; and Mamalarky reaches peak torque on Hex Key.
Desk Notes: Lau Frías
Lau Frías is an A&R Director at Secretly Group. She’s responsible for working with the likes of Cassandra Jenkins, Chanel Beads, and Wednesday. Raised in Lima, Peru, she has been a key voice within the Latinx music community, working with artists such as Omar Apollo, Cuco and others through her previous roles at labels like Kobalt and AWAL. She’s now based in Brooklyn.
“Welcome to my makeshift “desk.” I live alone in a petite New York apartment with a very petite dog, and I’m quite petite myself! So everything is exactly where it should be. I’m very passionate about my space as I feel deeply creative in it. I’m excited to be sharing a glimpse of it.
1. Cleo: My angel girl, the biggest light in my life. Always by my side, she reminds me to take breaks and go for a walk in the park. I live right by one which really helps break out my days when working from home. Cleo just turned thirteen, she’s a forever puppy ! She only understands Spanish, fun fact.
2. Malí Salazar painting: Malí is one of the most exciting emerging visual artists from Perú - their work and life story are so inspiring to me. Having a large piece of theirs in my living room is a daily reminder of where I come from.
3. My Rebequita: This special little doll, Rebequita, was handmade by one of my favourite musicians, Rebe. Rebe is from Torrelodones, a small town in Spain, she makes breathtaking music and visuals, straight out of a fairy tale. Her songs bring so much serenity into my life. No matter what, I always go back to her music, especially when spending time at home.
4. Headphones: with me everywhere I go. I listen to an absurd amount of music. These are my current pair by SONOS which I received as a gift, they have been pretty life changing (thank you Ari!)
5. Vintage hand mirror: I’m so drawn to certain colors/designs, and love collecting trinkets that feel like little treasures. This is a beloved item of mine, made in Japan in the late 90s. I own the matching standing mirror and brush set as well. The spiral outline on it is so unique.
6. Shells: I feel deeply connected with nature and the ocean and have an infinite obsession for shells — they’re all over my house and often on me (I’m pictured wearing a shell belt and ring, ha). I think they’re nature’s biggest gift. I love their opalescent quality and catching glimmers of shine while walking around my apartment.
7. Atmos Magazine: my all-time favorite magazine and the only one I get in print. I’m so drawn to the way it explores the intersection between climate and culture, looking at natural organisms to understand wider global ecosystems. This mag had a huge impact on the way I see the world. Some months ago, I helped my friends at Aerthship curate an artist lineup for an event series at Public Records, featuring music and panels focused on ecology and local farming. Atmos partnered with us on one of them, which felt very special and full circle!
(Honourable mentions: Tangerine laptop sticker, vintage Prada glasses, Everyone’s Mother accent pillow, Zabu floor cushions, and Lichen coffee table. Local and vintage treasures <3)”
Photos by Isabelle Abbott
The introduction…
Meet Josie Oliver, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter getting ready take over the world one track at a time.
Hometown… Stone, Staffordshire.
Describe your sound… Don’t know whether to dance or cry.
Where you go when you need an escape… To my best friends. They all live together in Liverpool and I’ll often just drive up there to be with them, sitting in their living room chatting about our feelings feels like a little sacred space — it's the nicest. And as cliché as it sounds, being in the studio is such an escape for me too. It’s the only place I feel like I fully shut out everything on my mind and slip into another zone for a while.
Dream collaborator… Sam Fender! I would absolutely love to write a song with him. I think he’s one of the best lyricists of our generation, I look up to him a lot and writing lyrics is my favourite thing to do so I think it would be a good match!
Favourite chord and why… Honestly I don’t think I have a favourite chord because most of the time I’m writing in weird tunings so I don’t even know what I’m playing I just go off what sounds good. But, 2 fingers, 1st fret in Open D is a go-to for me.
Josie Oliver’s EP Listen to this when you buy a house is out now.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, we share recommendations from the Best Fit community — one from the past, another from the present. This week, writer Larry McClain gives us a comparison of the Kiwis, contrasting Lorde’s The Love Club (2013) with emerson’s new cut “I Want You to Know Me” (2025).
The early career of Ella Yelich-O'Connor, aka Lorde, straddled the era of robust vinyl/CD sales and the nascent streaming world. The New Zealand artist was raised in Auckland’s North Shore suburbs and first gained recognition at a talent show.
Lorde’s first EP The Love Club was released in 2013, when she was just 16. The EP’s lead single “Royals” quickly became an international #1 hit. The subsequent release of her debut album Pure Heroine also included “Royals” and sold five million copies worldwide en route to winning two Grammy awards (including Song of the Year). “Royals” remains a remarkable commentary on both class and pop star entitlement:
But every song’s like / gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin’ in the bathroom / bloodstains, ballgowns, trashing the hotel room / We don’t care / We’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams
All that excess must have seemed strange to a young artist who lived 19 time-zones from Los Angeles. Since reaching the top rung of the music business, Lorde has steered clear of the Kanye/Diddy lifestyle she derided in “Royals”. She has consistently refused to conform to expectations, often placing her inner peace and privacy above all else. In one interview she said, “I have nothing against anyone getting naked. I just don't think it really would complement my music in any way or help me tell a story any better.”
Lorde’s core values are shared by another fast-rising New Zealand artist: 17-year-old Emma Wagner, who goes by the stage name emerson.
This time last year, emerson signed up to compete in New Zealand’s Smokefreerockquest, alongside nearly 900 other artists performing original music. By September, she had claimed first place nationally.
Like Lorde, emerson’s career has gotten off to a roaring start. Her single “You Really Must Hate Me!” had a Sabrina Carpenter-style energy that propelled it to the Top 10 on the New Zealand singles charts. The song reached even more listeners worldwide when it was added to Spotify’s Fresh Finds Pop playlist.
Following up on that success, emerson teamed with Auckland producer Josh Edmons to record her latest single “I Want You To Know Me”. She then worked with Grammy-nominated producer Rory Noble to create a second version of the track – resulting in two unique takes on the same song.
“‘I Want You To Know Me’ is about craving real connection in a world that often values appearances over authenticity,” says emerson. “It’s about the frustration of being seen as an object rather than a person, the tension between wanting to be desired and wanting to be known. I wrote this song as a reflection of my own experience – the moments of asking, ‘What do you really see when you look at me?’ Is it just an image, or is it me—my thoughts, my passions, my heart?”
Listen to the week in new music by following our Discovery playlist
Dropping at midnight every Thursday, follow our playlist for a taste of the best new music from the most exciting breaking artists. Leading the selection this week are new tracks from Florry, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Hotline TNT, Cosmorat, Very Big Problem, and coverstar For Nina.
“I forgot.”
-Parker Posey