Zoe Moss '24
“I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself,” sings Lucy Dacus on “True Blue,” Track #4 of Boygenius’s newest full release titled, The Record. If you haven’t yet heard of them, Boygenius is an indie-rock girlband that features the solo artists Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. They originally met as a group in 2018 and, after hitting it off, recorded their first album Boygenius, which successfully charted for months and scored public recognition. It’s been five years since their debut release, and with minimal warning they dropped an entire thirteen song album at 9pm on March 31st.
Perfect for ushering in springtime, graduation, and new-beginnings, The Record deals with themes of love, queerness, hate, self-discovery, and acceptance. It is not only an intimate portrait of Bridgers, Dacus and Baker’s close friendship, but also an exploration of their personal growth into themselves as artists. They each weave elements of indie-folk, indie-pop and rock alongside their individual styles to create a trademark melancholic, excitable alternative sound. The album is best served alongside a cup of iced tea, a positive but reflective attitude, friends to sing along with, and a view of the wildflowers that come into bloom on the many hills surrounding our campus during this time of the year.
While each song on The Record is equally as special and self-defining as the next, the strong initial lineup of “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry,” and “True Blue” perfectly sum up the listening experience of The Record in just three songs. These tracks had originally been released as teaser singles and are each a reflection of one of the band member’s own distinctive styles. “$20,” mostly highlighting Julien Baker's more upbeat and chaotic arrangements, marks the introduction of some of The Record’s centric themes: isolation, self discovery, and love. The song details the experiences of Julien Baker’s childhood growing up in a rural part of Tennessee, that small town teenage life and all the ways that she retained angst-filled memories and formative lessons when she grew up and moved away.
“Emily I’m Sorry,” continues on to illustrate Phoebe Bridgers’ gentle vocals and trademark style, with harmonic choruses and heartbreaking lyricism. This track is notable for its relevance to Bridger’s relationship with her ex-girlfriend Emily Bannon. It details the sacrifices of selfhood and nuances of their relationship, as well as queer love as a whole. Bridgers sings, “Yet, I can feel myself becoming/Someone only you could want,” which perfectly encapsulates this song’s overall feel and an aspect of the record itself- a reckoning with one’s internal battle between selfhood, selflessness and selfishness.
“True Blue,” is a masterpiece that pays homage to Dacus’ uncanny ability to put complex feelings into words. The song itself is closely intertwined with both “$20” and “Emily I’m Sorry” as it explores those same ideas of moving away from home, falling in and out of love, and stitching a family for herself from the close friendships made after leaving the town she had spent her youth. It is heartbreaking, comforting and resoundingly beautiful.
Alongside these initial tracks, each of the other ten songs are expansions on the themes that were originally introduced in the beginning of the album. Overall, The Record is worth a close listen, if even just once, and makes a perfect accompaniment to this year’s final trimester!
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