BOYGENIUS - THE RECORD
The long-awaited surprise return from super-trio boygenius, the record is a culmination of influences from each of the musician’s solo projects, paired with the one-of-a-kind flavor that makes this album uniquely boygenius. With songwriting styles that range from softly emotional, to powerfully desperate, to rock-centric and angsty, this fusion of sonic influences leaves us with the one-of-a-kind boygenius trademark that made so many fall in love with this trio of singer-songwriters.
After a successful run of solo releases from Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, the return of boygenius was a surprise to us all as they spontaneously released their initial three singles, ‘$20,’ ‘Emily I’m Sorry,’ and ‘True Blue.’ Apart from the mesmerizing introduction that is ‘Without You Without Them’ - marked by captivating harmonization and beautiful lyricism - these three singles also serve as the album’s first three tracks, persevering the record’s artform as a complete album, rather than simply a collection of songs. With each track being vocally driven by a different member of the band, this trio of songs tells three different stories from three different perspectives, showcasing the clear musical influence from each songwriter’s individual style.
The acoustic instrumentation on ‘Cool About It,’ reminiscent of Alex G, trademarks the record’s overall sad-western feel. With three unique vocal inflections that pair together mesmerizingly, this track tells three different stories with a simple guitar. On the other hand, the self-deprecating anthem and fan-favorite ‘Not Strong Enough’ is about never feeling quite worthy in a relationship. The repetition of the lyric “always an angel, never a god” is a deeper play on the cliché line “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” With a danceable melody and heart-wrenching lyricism, this song is signature Boygenius in every sense of the word.
The western-inspired interlude ‘Leonard Cohen,’ sung by powerhouse Lucy Dacus is marked by incredibly specific lyrical choices, painting a captivatingly descriptive picture of a road trip marked by a significant experience of listening to a song for the first time. Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s lyric from ‘Anthem,’ “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in,” this short interlude offers a beautifully dramatic way of representing the sentiment that everything we see is imperfect, but the imperfection is the only way to recognize its beauty.
The heart-wrenching ‘We’re In Love’ shows us how someone’s false perception of what it means to be truly in love can be the very thing that destroys a relationship. The track’s first line “You could absolutely break my heart / that’s how I know that we’re in love” sums up the moral of this song - this character sees true love as unhealthy codependence, and because of this, the relationship that they have developed an unhealthy attachment to will never work.
The soul-touching ‘Love To An Old Poet’ is the perfect finale to this album’s dramatic collection of descriptive art pieces, offering a look back at a painful situation from a fresh perspective. The heart-breaking lyric “You made me feel like an equal, but I’m better than you” displays the hindsight that one gains after leaving an abusive relationship and realizing that their partner was not the person they thought they were. With a hopeful ending to the emotional rollercoaster that is the record, “I want to be happy, I’m ready…I can’t feel it yet, but I’m waiting” serves as the light at the end of the tunnel, suggesting hope, despite the chaos, for a bright future ahead.
With instrumentation alone that has the power to break hearts, paired with personally specific yet universally relatable lyricism, boygenius fills a void in the lives of modern teenagers that was previously filled by emo music. A collection of tracks that is equal parts angsty, self-deprecating, heartbreaking, and hopeful, the record is the perfect album for anyone who has ever felt anything.
Emily Gottlieb
★★★★★