Julien Baker & TORRES deliver a poignant and powerful tribute to the bond between human and dog in “Sylvia,” blending tender harmonies, rich pedal steel, and evocative lyricism into an achingly intimate, country-infused masterpiece. With their debut album ‘Send a Prayer My Way’ on the horizon, Baker and TORRES are proving to be a match made in musical heaven.
follow our Today’s Song(s) playlist
“Sylvia” – Julien Baker & TORRES
It’s not often we get a musical match made in heaven, but that’s exactly what Julien Baker & TORRES is shaping up to be.
When the two singer/songwriters first announced their collaborative foray into country music last December, I might as well have wept with joy: Their sun-kissed debut single “Sugar in the Tank” is a seductive, free-spirited celebration of country music and queer love, a combination that, in itself, feels novel – and more necessarily now, than ever.
Its follow-up, “Sylvia,” is equally expressive: An achingly intimate and emotional ode to TORRES’ dog, the song is full of unconditional love, longing, and the recognition that, while our pets’ lives may be a blip to us, but we are everything to them:
Sylvia, my baby
I have got to go away
In the mornin’ when you rise
I’ll be halfway down the highway
Neither of my two minds
Can decide if I’m at home
On the road when I know
The road ain’t any kind of home
Sylvia
don’t forget me
Sylvia
feel like I’m missing everything
“A day for me is a week for you, and my life’s already halfway through,” TORRES (aka Mackenzie Scott) sings in the song’s second verse, her voice hot on the mic and heavy with feeling. “Tomorrow, today’s worries might turn out to be regrets. Tomorrow, yesterday’s glories will be a memory.”
“The morning I went to pick up 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,’ TORRES shares.
“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.”
“Sylvia” aches inside and out as Julien Baker & TORRES channel a one-of-a-kind love – the bond between human and dog – into a heartfelt reverie reflecting on all the memories, moments, and emotions we can share.
So alone when I’m not with you
But I ache to see the world
What’s it even mean to have everything
If I can’t share it with my girl?
Haunted by all the goodnights that I’ve missed
Every time your cheek goes unkissed
A day for me is a week for you
And my life’s already halfway through
Tomorrow, today’s worries
might turn out to be regrets
Tomorrow, yesterday’s glories
will be a memory
I am afraid
I’m doing it the wrong way
In a way, no one knows us as well as our pets; we can give them all of us, unconditionally, and they do the same.
“Sylvia” captures that intimacy, turning something no one else sees or feels into a sentimental, soul-stirring song full of rich harmonies, sweet pedal steel, and shiver-inducing warmth.
Needless to say, Julien Baker & TORRES is a singular, fast-rising pair in 2025’s music scene – not that either name needs reintroducing – and with their debut album Send a Prayer My Way coming this spring (April 18th via Matador Records), the sky’s the limit to what their combined singing and songwriting can achieve.
Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia
Feel like I’m missing everything
Sylvia, don’t forget me
Sylvia
Feel like I’m missing everything
— —
:: stream/purchase Send a Prayer My Way here ::
:: stream/purchase Sylvia here ::
—
:: connect with Julien Baker & TORRES here ::
— —
— — — —
Connect to Julien Baker on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Connect to TORRES on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Ebru Yildiz
© Ebru Yildiz
:: Today’s Song(s) ::
follow our daily playlist on Spotify
