Everyone loves the occasional supergroup, and one of the most notable melding of musical minds in recently came earlier this year in the form of boygenius. 

As a longtime devotee of all things Baker/Bridgers/Dacus, 2SER producer and presenter Jasmin Williams takes us into a deep dive into their debut album “The Record” and the meanings therein! 

In honour of boygenius embarking on tour, I felt it was only right as the 2ser boygenius fan in residence to talk all about their most recent album, “The Record”. Since its release earlier this year, I have had some time to bask and REALLY listen. I am aware journalistic integrity is important, but you’re getting none of that here. I am biased, I love this band.

If you’re unfamiliar with boygenius, they’re an indie rock supergroup comprised of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. The trio say they just happened to be friends that worked in the same spaces and were set to go on tour together as individual artists, on the ‘Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers with Lucy Dacus Tour’. They told Vogue that to promote the tour, they came together to record a 7″ EP, which ended up being the self-titled EP, and quickly realised they had a ‘sweet dynamic.’

They then as a group went off the radar, and continued to focus on their solo careers, with each of them putting out albums since then. They did come together occasionally to perform at charity events, but there was no sign of new music.

Earlier this year there was speculation on social media of a return, which I have learned from my years on Twitter to always take with a grain of salt.

This was one of those moments where you’ll always remember exactly where you were. It was around 3 am, and I was two hours into an all-nighter radio shift. I opened up Twitter to see that boygenius had emerged from the shadows, three new singles were now available on Spotify, and their debut full-length album “The Record” was available for pre-order. I queued some of their solo songs and basked in the sweet sweet return of my favourite band.

I wasn’t able to listen to these tracks until the way home (hours later), where I sat on the train with all the morning commuters, extremely sleep deprived, sobbing to “$20”, purely out of excitement.

So here, is a track-by-track analysis of the record and my opinions on all of them. Just giving the people what they want.

The first track, ‘Without You, Without Them’ is the perfect album opening track. Placing all of the member’s vocal abilities on display, this stripped-back romantic serenade is a perfect introduction to a thematically and emotionally complex album.

The transition between the opening track and ‘$20’ is something out of this realm. On the vinyl copy of ‘The Record’, they play around with panning and echo to create a haunting transition into the second track. Being one of the first singles that was released earlier this year, $20 is a rounded indie rock track placing the strengths of every member on display. With Baker’s vocals at the forefront, Dacus’ harmonies and interludes and Bridgers’ guttural screaming towards the end of the track, this is a pure representation of the bold musicality of the band.  The overlapping of melodies at the conclusion of the track is robust and commands the attention of the listener. This is not a track that can be listened to in passing, but one that commands listeners’ full attention. The lyrics on this track are smart and witty, with my personal favourite being ‘so many hills to die on.’

‘Emily I’m Sorry’ is a solemn, stripped-back track compared to its upbeat prior. Placing Bridgers at the forefront, this is another one of the singles that fans were first exposed to. What almost sounds like a solo track is perfectly complemented by the harmonies of Dacus and Baker. Lyrically, this song is a punch in the stomach and is full of emotion and depth that is not foreign to the group.

The fourth track, True Blue is (in my interpretation) a ballad that highlights the love and closeness shared within female friendship. With the meaning of the phrase True Blue literally being “unwavering in one’s commitment; extremely loyal”, this homage to love and friendship is brought to life with Dacus’ vocals at the centre. With similar themes beingexplored in Dacus’ most recent album ‘Home Video’, this track is no exception to the insane musicality and lyricism of the supergroup.

Cool About It seems to be the track that has taken the internet by storm, or maybe just my personal TikTok feed. It was heavily inspired by Paul Simon, with the opening melody interpolating the Simon & Garfunkel track, The Boxer. Taking a different approach here with each member having an individual verse, the song ultimately explores a breakdown in communication with a lover or old friend.

Not Strong Enough is a track I keep finding myself gravitating back to. The upbeat nature of the song and the sadness of the lyrics is a juxtaposition for the ages. It’s one of those tracks where you can really have a good time and listen, but the second you listen too hard you’ll feel your slow descent to madness. There are a bunch of internal references here to other music, with references to Cheryl Crow and the Cure. The line ‘not strong enough to be your man’ was inspired by Sheryl Crow’s single ‘Strong Enough’. Telling Rolling Stone

“The two wolves inside us can be self-hatred and self-aggrandizing. Being like, ‘I’m not strong enough to show up for you. I can’t be the partner that you want me to be.’ But also being like, ‘I’m too fucked up. I’m unknowable in some deep way!”

Later in the track, they reference ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ by The Cure. It’s a pretty upbeat track with devastating lyrics, which is central to the artistic style of boygenius. One of the standout features of the track is the bridge, where the line ‘Always An Angel, Never a God’ is repeated over and over. In an analysis posted on Genius, it is seen to be somewhat of a commentary on gender roles and misogyny.

‘Men get to be gods, the highest of the spiritual hierarchy, while women are consigned to lesser angelic functions, with societal connotations of needing to remain pure and chaste… Being an angel represents that lower expectation of a woman as opposed to the male gods, the standard for whom is high and rewarding’.

The next track, ‘Revolution 0′ is about Phoebe Bridgers “falling in love online,” according to an interview with Rolling Stone. “With the attention span of being in lockdown, it was just really beautiful,” she said. This ethereal track is stripped back and outer-worldly, from the harmonies to the minimalistic instrumentals. Quite possibly one of the most impactful things to come out of this group, their voices complement each other in a way that doesn’t happen often. Ultimately, this track reminds me of that period after a storm, where it’s gloomy, yet the sun still shines.

Sung almost exclusively by Dacus, the eighth track ‘Leonard Cohen’ is a love song though and through. It throws you back into that warm and sappy headspace where you can truly acknowledge how much we as humans have the ability to love and be loved. Whether you interpret it as platonic or romantic, this song is a heartwarming showcase of pure love. In 2023, when speaking the Rolling Stone they discussed a writing trip they had gone on, where they had discussed great songs. This little road trip inspired the first verse of the track. It was on this road trip that Phoebe showed Lucy and Julien the song ‘The Trapeze Swinger’, by Iron and Wine. It was here that Phoebe lost sight of her GPS, and the others ‘didn’t have the heart to tell her she was headed in the wrong direction… we both decided the song mattered more.’

‘Satanist’ launches straight into staccato guitar riffs, with an immediately fuller sound compared to the former. Lyrically, I think this is one of the more complex and one of my personal favourites on the album. Tackling themes like religion, class, nihilism and anarchism, this track is both thematically and audibly intense. Building up and becoming more layered throughout the entire track, peaks with a solid build-up full of Phoebe’s screams we know and love. Closing off with a hazy vocal outro, this song ties itself up into a box and finishes cohesively – almost like a journey.

The tenth track on the album ‘We’re In Love’ is a track about the bandmates and their deep and meaningful friendship. They talked about the meaning behind this track, and Baker’s initial apprehension to the track with NPR.

(Julien) 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.’ In light of Baker’s admission, the song sounds like the acknowledgement of a simple truth: that our friends might truly know us — our flaws and our mistakes included — and keep choosing to love us anyway.”

The track voiced almost exclusively by Dacus, is an emotional track, placing her soulful voice at the forefront. It’s one of those songs that you can either sit with and appreciate, or burst into tears while listening to. It is a beautiful homage to the love found within friendships, and it is clear that there is nothing but love seeping from every track on The Record.

When I first heard Anti-Curse, I felt as if it was an unreleased track from Baker’s most recent album, Little Oblivions—encapsulating the sounds explored in Little Oblivions, while placing the boygenius spin on it. It is somewhat of a reflection of life after a near-death experience, which tends to force people to become self-reflective, and hyper-aware of their actions. As reported by Rolling Stone, the track was inspired by Julien Baker’s near-drowning experience, where she said

“I was like, ‘This is not the worst ever way to die.’ It’s not traumatic, lonely, some sort of weird violent end or a horrible disease. I was just having a great time on the beach with my friends. That’s like being smothered to death by puppies.”

Taking on the Baker trademark guitar tone, this track catapults the listener into the situation. Baker’s vocals are cathartic and full of joy and this song is just another ode to her talent and capacity as an artist.  I will never forget the first time I heard the line, ‘you don’t have to make it bad, just cause you know how.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igDHxwFpTpk&ab_channel=IronChefWong

Anti-Curse transitions so seamlessly into the final track, Letter to an Old Poet. Quite possibly one of the best closing tracks I’ve ever heard, this track is full of so many emotions.

“[Letter to an Old Poet] is about when someone has so much power over you, they stop being a person.” — Phoebe Bridgers via Rolling Stone

Parts of this song use the melody as their 2018 song ‘Me & My Dog’. Opening with soft piano, and Bridgers vocals; this song is a stark departure from the higher energy in the previous song. The second this song starts, you’re drawn into the experience, with nowhere to hide from the lyrics. It feels like an emotional punch in the stomach, but also is communicating positive personal growth through ‘I want to be happy… im ready’ in this song, compared to the ‘I want to be emaciated’ in Me & My Dog.

A fun little tidbit, on the vinyl pressing of this album, they’ve put a locked groove on the end of this song. This basically means the last second or so of the album will play on a loop until you manually get up and switch it off. This leaves listeners in a loop of ‘..waiting’.

The parallels between this track, and the 2018 track are such an emotional way to close off such a wholistic album. This album honestly was everything I wanted from the group. They explored new depths, expanded their range and shared new experiences all while keeping their friendship and musical cohesiveness at the centre.

You can stream ‘The Record’ here or purchase it physically here or at your local indie record store.