Julien Baker's 6 favorite high-energy songs

"I tried to pick songs that hit really hard sonically as well as lyrically or evoke a particularly strong response."

Julien Baker
(Image credit: Jake Cunningham)

"Know my name and all my hideous mistakes," Julien Baker sings in a climactic moment on her debut album Sprained Ankle. In a little over a half hour, the 20-year-old Tennessean details her struggles with addiction, depression, and relationships, describing with unflinching honesty everything from losing consciousness in a hospital bed to feeling intensely powerless in the final moments of a breakup.

The album begins with a minimal acoustic guitar line and Baker singing in hushed tones. But by the time it reaches the aforementioned climax, she's nearly shouting; her voice has progressed from plaintive to plaintively triumphant. This is what makes Sprained Ankle so compelling. Baker finds power in her vulnerability, and she can transform moments of deep despair into beautiful yet crushing crescendos.

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Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.