Lucy Dacus – Forever is a Feeling
The fourth solo album from the boygenius member has moments of magic, but struggles to match the emotional intensity of Lucy Dacus' prior work
This is Lucy Dacus's first album following the meteoric rise of the festival-headlining, Grammy-winning juggernaut boygenius, of which she is one third alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. It's hard to imagine she'll be playing venues like the Voodoo Rooms again anytime soon. This brings with it a lot more attention and could understandably unnerve someone whose music is riddled with indecision and anxiety. So it's to Dacus's credit that Forever is a Feeling still feels grounded in the same raw emotions and subtle details that have rightly made her a star.
That said, there is a certain amount of playing it safe. Ankles may titillate in its fanfic expression of lust and choppy bassline, but there's a twee safety net ('I'll help you with the crossword in the morning') that never lets the sentiment slide into the overwhelming passion that older songs have achieved. And this recurs throughout; there are plenty of lush harmonies and serviceable chamber-pop arrangements, but trite lyrics like, 'You make me homesick for a place I've never been' or Bullseye, the saccharine duet with Hozier, don't thrill with the same conviction of vintage Dacus.
Invariably, she's at her best when laying into the guitar and upping the tempo (Talk; Most Wanted Man) or completely stripping things back to plucked simplicity and letting unguarded feelings speak for themselves. For Keeps and beautiful closer Lost Time are the best examples. The former is a tender reflection on how you can miss a person or a feeling even before it's gone.
The latter is a devastating tour-de-force (especially after the joyous declarations of love on Most Wanted Man), a daydream about spontaneous marriage turning into the melancholy reflection that every moment not spent in delirious love is lost time. It's a feeling that can only come after you've experienced the radiant highs of love – something Dacus articulates in both cliches and homespun wisdom across the album – but the song speaks to the human tendency to look for the negatives even when you should be soaking up the good times.
Those are the sort of honest, relatable feelings that bring out the genius of Dacus's songwriting. It's a shame that it's only fleetingly seen across Forever is a Feeling.
Listen to: For Keeps, Most Wanted Man, Lost Time