Send A Prayer My Way

Send a Prayer My Way is a damn good country record. Scott and Baker have co-written a compact, yet rich collection of songs that testifies to their skill as country music practitioners.

As they reclaim the sounds of their roots on Send a Prayer My Way, Baker and Torres bring out the best in each others' music.

What makes Send A Prayer My Way so compelling is that – song for song – you have two superb singers working together rather than competing over the vocals singing some of the smartest lyrics the genre boasts.

A warm and inclusive record.

Send A Prayer My Way exceeds any expectations, no matter how lofty. [May 2025, p.102]

An album that seems intent on doing things its own way, regardless of commercial expectation or trends of the genre. It’s beautifully made and gently powerful – a reminder that understated pleasures are pleasures all the same.

Julien Baker and TORRES are both immersive, insightful songwriters in their own right; together, their partnership is a resounding testament to resilience and tentative hope.

Send A Prayer My Way is an album that confidently plays to its strengths and one that’s very much built on the undeniable chemistry between the two leads. Hopefully, it’s a collaboration that will be revisited in the not too distant future.

On Send A Prayer My Way they apply tasteful country renovations and marry humour, melancholy and joy with timely themes in a way that will only delight fans of either artist.

TORRES and Baker don't fully escape the influence of their strong indie milieus, but that's part of what makes Send a Prayer My Way so special: it feels a little folky, a little Americana, and a lot country.

The album’s wonderful first single, “Sugar in the Tank,” shows off their vocal chemistry as they exalt in the kind of easygoing tunefulness that can equally lend itself to a roots-rock anthem or a country radio hit. Most of the album isn’t as upbeat, particularly as Baker and Torres put their stamp on the genre’s hard-living lyrical traditions.

There are a few tumbleweeds in the bunch (“Dirt” is curiously overlong to begin the record; “Showdown” fails to make much of an impression), but this is about as good a curiosity that I would imagine a Julien Baker and TORRES country spinoff to be. It’s evocative, heartfelt fun.

At times, the blend of their individual rock styles with country creates something fresh, but some efforts feel more pastiche than inventive.

"Dirt" and gentle gut-wrencher "Showdown", on which Baker takes vocal lead, boast the same sparse, clear-eyed lyricism of her 2021 album Little Oblivions, while Scott's earthy alto is the perfect foil, whether campfire storyteller or wisecracking sidekick. [Apr 2025, p.27]

The album is pleasant in every way you could want it to be, but it’s also a few truck stops short of their best and most memorable work. Still, it’s hard to deny it’s enjoyable to hear two friends play together and connect over an affection for a genre that was so formative for both of them.

If you allow yourself to step out of the “country music” label affixed to Send a Prayer My Way, you’ll be welcomed by a well-made, fine-sounding indie-pop album.

In 2025, there is still something subversive about telling these queer narratives via one of music’s oldest traditions – even if sonically it can sometimes all feel a little country by numbers.

Though ‘Send A Prayer My Way’ doesn’t always grip you with the immediacy of either Baker or Scott’s respective solo careers, it’s still refreshing to hear two very well-established songwriters exploring such distinct new territory together.