boygenius’s the record: the review
For the first time ever, the indie folk rock group boygenius has finally given the girls, gays, and they’s what we have been hungrily awaiting—an album, the record. boygenius, comprised of indie artists Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers, is well-known not only for the popularity of their 2018 EP, boygenius, but for the quality of each member’s solo music. Baker, Dacus, and Bridgers have each released independent music and toured since boygenius’s first release, making the release of a full album all the more exciting for their devoted fans.
The strength of each individual member’s musical and lyrical talent is on full display in the record—while the unaccompanied harmonies in songs like “Without You Without Them” and the rock-infused rhythms of “$20” (my favorite song on the album) remind their fans of the sonic quality of the EP boygenius, many of this album’s tracks feel specifically tailored to the artist that sings the lead melody in that song. “Emily I’m Sorry,” for example, replicates Bridgers’ sound so effortlessly that it sounds like a single that Bridgers might have released herself.
While “Emily I’m Sorry” is the most played song on this album, I’m going to take the same issue with it as I did with Bridgers’ feature on SZA’s album, SOS—this album is about boygenius, NOT Phoebe Bridgers! As the most popular member of boygenius (Baker has roughly 400,000 followers on Spotify, Dacus has 1.5 million, and Bridgers has 8.9 million), I was hopeful that Bridgers’ sound might still blend into the boygenius sound as seamlessly as it did in 2018 before Bridgers had gained as much traction as a solo musician.
While I was let down by a few songs that, in my opinion, showcase Bridgers above her counterparts, I am still able to recognize the genius of the lyrics she sings—“Cool About It,” my second-favorite song on the album, finishes with a verse delivered by Bridgers’ coolly heart-rending voice and lyrics that match: “Once I took your medication to know what it’s like, and now I have to act like I can’t read your mind. I ask you how you’re doing and I let you lie, but we don’t have to talk about it—I can walk you home and practice method acting, I’ll pretend bein’ with you doesn’t feel like drowning.”
The ending tracks of this album have fewer plays than the opening, likely due to the earlier tracks’ gradual release as singles; songs like “Leonard Cohen” and “Satanist” nonetheless achieve similarly breathtaking emotional and musical tones. The album ends with “Letter To An Old Poet,” a delicately vulnerable piece that ties together the many soundscapes of the album while revisiting some of the melodies and lyrics from “Me & My Dog” from boygenius. The song ends, however, with the haunting words, “I can’t feel it yet, but I am waiting,” which I personally hope acknowledges the waiting boygenius fans have embarked on for years and indicates more music to come.
Thumbnail Photo via Wikimedia Commons