British singer/songwriter Michael Baker makes a fresh start (and dons a fresh sound) as Roman Joon with “Call It What You Want,” an exhilarating, achingly urgent debut single that is as seductive and sultry as it is impassioned and unrelenting.
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“Call It What You Want” – Roman Joon
Farewell, Michael Baker, and hello, Roman Joon!
With every ending comes a new beginning, and the horizon seems especially promising for my favorite Brighton-based singer/songwriter. A staple of Atwood’s pages for five years and counting, indie folk artist Michael Baker has distinguished himself as a bridge between the intimately ethereal and softly cinematic, releasing four studio albums (and a litany of EPs) that evoke his own humanity, while echoing bits of universal warmth and wisdom that resonate deep in our hearts.
Atwood Magazine previously praised Baker’s sophomore album Salt as “a heartfelt reckoning full of striking vulnerability and intensely intimate, beautiful songwriting,” and called 2021’s third LP How Come You Sleep “a cathartic release of tension and visceral self-reflection made with love, light, and hope in the midst of a pandemic.” Embracing space while bridging acoustic and electric instrumentation and a soft rock / indie folk aesthetic, Baker’s visceral music could (and can) be likened to such acclaimed artists as Sufjan Stevens, Gregory Alan Isakov, Blind Pilot, Dustin Tebbutt, Bear’s Den, and Aquilo.
But the times, they are a-changin’, and after making music under his own name for nearly a decade, Baker found himself ready for a refresh. “I wanted to start fresh, really,” he explains. “Nice to be on album one again and just give it a whack out into the industry as a newbie.”
His new alter-ego, Roman Joon, comes with no baggage nor expectations; the sky’s the limit for what this artist can and will do, starting with his spellbinding, dramatic, and achingly urgent debut single, “Call It What You Want.”
crawling up the walls
never to be heard
i love you
there’s always one of those
who’ll hate the way you flirt
i love you
you can call it what you want
call it what you want
’cause everything happens
everything happens
“I’d had this track kicking around for a while, playing with different versions, but I kept coming back to the original demo – there was something about it I just couldn’t shake,” Baker tells Atwood Magazine. “When it came time to finish it for my debut album, I knew the heart of that demo had to stay.”
“I brought in Chris Matthewson, who I have also collaborated with on our ‘Bloody Tourist’ project, to play baritone guitar, and Marcus Hamblett added these pitch-bent trumpets that really gave the track life. The electronic glitches came from experimenting with a Chase Bliss Mood pedal on the guitar, and the rest is history. It’s got that late-night driving vibe, perfect for head-bopping, with the real power lying in its rhythmic consistency.”
a window with a view
garden avenue, go under
go through the tavern beau
everything you choose
go under
you can call it what you want
call it what you want
’cause everything happens
everything happens
Seductive and sultry, impassioned and unrelenting, “Call It What You Want” is an exhilarating debut that ensures we’ll pay extra-special attention to this ‘new’ artist from here on out.
With his debut album I Think I’m Alright, Mighty Fine set to release in 2025, Roman Joon is without a doubt an artist to watch – one who, untethered to the past, can go anywhere and do anything. Here’s to making a fresh start.
you can call it what you want
call it what you want
’cause everything happens
everything happens
you can call it what you want
call it what you want
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:: connect with Roman Joon here ::
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“Call It What You Want” – Roman Joon
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