boygenius - ‘the record’ - album review
boygenius - the record (HIVE)
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus. Say any of those three names to any queer person under the age of 25 and you’ll likely be met with a statement that includes the words “icon”, “devastating”, or “geniuses”. Or all three. The trio are three of the most sought-after generation defining songwriters with their fanbases being among some of the most dedicated, having soundtracked the lives of millions with their melancholic tones. With their individual successes, it's no wonder that they decided to form supergroup boygenius and consequently merge their respective discographies to bring three different sides of the same genre together to form an amalgamation of everything that makes these artists great as solo performers and writers.
the record begins with a short and simple yet effective track that brings back the three-part harmonies that the group are so renowned for on their EP. Though the trio has teamed up since their EP’s release on Bridgers’ Graceland Too and Hayley Williams’ Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris, this is the first taste of the new iteration of boygenius – the thought and anticipation alone makes goosebumps travel up the neck of even the most casual of fans.
The following three tracks seem to be an insight into each member’s music as an individual. Each is written separately so gives us that fix of each of their styles that we have been so desperately needing since their last respective releases. The first of the three is $20, a track where Julien Baker so clearly takes the lead. It is fuzzy and energetic, a stark contrast from the EP and more like Baker’s last release Little Oblivions. It grabs the listeners attention by crashing in and getting straight to business, utilizing a full band to create a dynamic beginning to this new era of an already beloved band. Not only is it extremely cohesive, but it also gives each member a moment to shine within the last minute of the song. Baker keeps the group steady and continues the song through to the outro, Dacus joining in with her instantly recognizable harmonies. Bridgers first recognizable addition to the song is her manic screaming, reminiscent of her own album closer I Know The End. It crescendos to result in an extremely cathartic and frenzied ending – this catharsis seems to be a key theme in many of the following tracks.
The other two of the aforementioned tracks, Emily I’m Sorry and True Blue, are of course written by Bridgers and Dacus, respectively. There is a lot of speculation over who the former is about, but the only detail the audience should be focusing on is how Bridgers bares her all to create a raw and emotional track. Both songs echo the same sound that a lot of their solo material does, whilst harking back to boygenius’ EP, using three-part harmonies and sparce instrumentals to enthrall listeners, reach right into their hearts, and tug at their emotions.
One of the best parts of boygenius is their lyrical genius and ability to use words as their paintbrush to create a visceral scene in a way that most other artists simply cannot – it’s almost as if one day Sylvia Plath picked up a guitar and went for it. This is no more evident than on Leonard Cohen. The track is extremely simple with just Dacus playing an acoustic guitar as she croons about a road trip to LA taken with her bandmates in Bridgers’ car one day. The result is a track that manages to intertwine wrenching quotes from Cohen as a tortured artist with crafty digs at the same man. Tracks like this one allows boygenius to weave humor and amusement into their lyrics whilst still managing to be faithful to their passion as separate songwriters.
Whilst it may feel as though each track has a clear leader, Not Strong Enough is the clear example of these artists coming together to create a transcendent piece of art. It balances the heartbreak and angst on the rest of the album with a real sense of nostalgia and joy that becomes so much more evident in its accompanying music video. It is a true communal effort and it can’t help but evoke a feeling of nostalgia, almost belonging on the soundtrack of an early noughties coming of age movie. Like most other boygenius tracks, it builds to a crescendo near the end where it explodes in ecstasy alongside some of the most complicated instrumentation on the album.
There is no doubt that the record appeals to fans at any level of obsession. As extremely skilled songwriters, boygenius have made sure to include ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ callback moments for those that find themselves among the more dedicated. Rock highlight Anti-Curse can’t help but include some of these moments. There are callbacks to previous boygenius track Salt In The Wound, as well as a leitmotif found previously in Bridgers’ Saviour Complex. The more this group do, the more they prove themselves as extremely thoughtful and skillful songwriters. The spiritual successor to Me and My Dog, Letter to an Old Poet, does the same. It is brutally honest, and we find Bridgers singing about an intense love. It is full of pining and longing, much like the previous, and even uses the same melodies, going as far to make the listener almost belt “I wanna be emaciated”, before flipping the script on us and crafting a truly tragic and harrowing ending to what is the best parts of boygenius wrapped in a neat package with a bow.
The true genius of a supergroup is that it lets you have the best parts of everything at once. While the idea of the supergroups we know and love are built on ego, it is clear that boygenius has been built on the foundations of a love of music and each other. As a fan of each artist individually you can’t help but wonder why they would want to delve into a world that is condemned by over-confidence and lack of sacrifice. For a band such as this to work, there must be a promise of compromise between members, of knowing when to step back to let others shine for the sake of the group. Even the most compliant groups fall victim to this trap, forgetting that a group is only ever as good as its weakest member, the group then never seems as good as the members as individuals. But boygenius has taken care to stand back and let each other shine, giving us an undeniable sense of unity between the members. Though the odds of supergroups are stacked against them, boygenius can be both the exception and prime example to the rule “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.
Rating: 5/5
