Speaking of the new single, “The morning I went to pick up my dog Sylvia from an upstate shelter, I was at home making my coffee and I turned on WFMU and Dolly Parton’s ‘Cracker Jack’ was on. I burst into tears—it felt like the universe was telling me she was going to be mine (Sylvia was only meant to be a foster). I remember thinking that I’d love to write a song like that, a song that people could feel in their chest within five seconds of turning on the radio, because anyone who has ever had the honor of sharing a home with a beloved pet knows that a pet is family—they’re the best friends you could ever have.”

Send a Prayer My Way has been in the works since Baker and TORRES played their first show together in 2016 and at the end one singer turned to the other and said, “You know, we should make a country album.” Their collaboration not only reflects Julien Baker & TORRES’ love of country music, but joyfully reclaims the genre’s traditions and iconography which until only recently felt exclusionary.