Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker are all indie legends in their own respects. Each singer-songwriter has produced studio records of their own, played sold-out tours across the nation, and penned heart-wrenching lyrics that live in Spotify playlists like “pov: you’re angry crying or sad screaming” and “julien baker, ranked by sadness.” Together, the three hauntingly heartbroken artists comprise the supergroup boygenius: a powerful trio that released their first studio album, the record, in March of 2023, then went on hiatus at the beginning of February of this year.
Each of the record’s 12 tracks highlights the ethereal vocals and transcendent songwriting of all three of the boys. The collection stands as a testament to not only the strengths of the three artists, but to their chemistry with each other and an intimate love for the craft of creation itself. Each song on the record captures the essence of youth and that divine love between friends as they share their unapologetic selves.
The opening track, “Without You, Without Them,” highlights the trio’s resonant, warm vocals on an opening a capella track that leaves chills. The lyrics call upon and resolve themselves, opening the track with this request:
“Give me everything you’ve got, I’ll take what I can get /
I want to hear your story and be a part of it”
The refrain, then, answers itself:
“I’ll give everything I’ve got, please take what I can give /
I want you to hear my story and be a part of it.”
It’s an intimate invitation into the band’s inner world, a step into the trio as they ask each other the question: “Who would I be without you, without them?” This song cracks open the record and provides listeners with the perfect first step into the special warmth that surrounds the band, a constant effervescent love that envelops the blend of their three voices in harmony.
Where “Without You, Without Them” is a gentle peek into the warmest light of the record, “$20” is a head-first dive into the fiery, soft punk tone that is indicative of Julien Baker’s influence on the group. According to Elif Batuman’s introductory essay for the record, “Julien wrote ‘$20’ after realizing that what she wanted for the band was More Sick Riffs,” and understandably so. Those sick riffs and continuous energy of the song carry the simplest of pleasures: the joy of the journey, the badassery of rock n’ roll, and a constant excitement about the people you’re on that journey with. The track can only be described as a banger.
Both “True Blue” and “Not Strong Enough,” the fourth and sixth songs respectively, are the kind of songs that make you want to drive down the coast during sunset, head out the window, holding onto friends as you scream along. Playing on the phrase, “True Blue,” the song encapsulates a loyal and unconditional type of love. Written by Dacus, the lyrics skillfully capture a genuine, honest care for someone else, with the main refrain emphasizing that “It feels good to be known so well / I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself.” In stark contrast, “Not Strong Enough” centers on struggles with self-doubt. The bridge highlights this idea so simply, yet so beautifully, with the repeated lyric, “always an angel, never a god.” While both songs share a light, powerful energy, the difference in the lyricism and topics emphasizes the breadth and expertise of the artists involved in the record’s making.
How could we talk about the expertise of the record without calling attention to “We’re In Love,” one of its most beautifully composed and written pieces? As the title suggests, “We’re in Love” is a love letter held tightly between Dacus, Bridgers, and Baker. Through Dacus’s voice and lyrics, we get a vulnerable look into the band’s beautifully crafted dynamic through a series of symbols and in-jokes we don’t even need to understand to grasp their importance. The lyrics beg, with a raw fervor, to let this love shared between them transcend lifetimes. Where their opening song, “Without You, Without Them,” asks “I want to hear your story and be a part of it,” “We’re In Love” continues the sentiment, asking “If you rewrite your life, may I still play a part?” It’s a song Baker wasn’t certain of at first— on a piece written for NPR, journalist Marissa Loruso describes that “Baker initially rejected the song, arguing to keep it off the record — later, after coming around to it, she admitted that the song is a reminder that ‘it's still a learning process" for her "to know the difference between being scrutinized and being seen.’” Writing and sharing “We’re In Love” is a masterclass in vulnerability, and it displays a deep interconnectedness crucial to a record that consistently holds this love between the boys in such high regard.
After finishing their tour and shortly before winning three Grammy awards, including one for Best Alternative Music Album, the boys announced the band’s hiatus. In the winner’s room following the Grammy Awards, Bridgers explained to Gay Times, “...we told each other at the beginning of this project that it will have a finite date, like a finite amount of time devoted to it. And we completed that time, and now we’ve walked into the sunset.”
The boys of boygenius have left us with a love letter to each other, a vulnerable account of how friendship is at the core of each and every aspect of life, and now, they’re able to feel the satisfaction that comes with producing an influential piece of art.
In the same conversation in the winner’s room after the Grammy Awards, Baker commented, “It feels nice to have a cap on what we’ve done, we put the record into the world and that’s enough.”
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