The Record is an album that the supergroup Boygenius released in late March of 2023. It gained critical acclaim at the Grammys, winning the award for Best Alternative Album. The track “Not Strong Enough” earned them two more Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.
Boygenius is a collaboration of artists, consisting of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, and they have all had successful independent careers outside of the group. They released their first self-titled EP in 2018, and they all took a long hiatus until they released The Record. On both of their albums, they each bring their own creative styles with them, and they work together perfectly.
Bridgers has many hits, such as “Motion Sickness” and “Scott Street”. She is from Los Angeles and has lived here most of her life. Dacus is from Virginia and has released three full-length albums and three EPs. Her most notable song would be “Night Shift”. Last but not least, Baker is from Tennessee, and she also has three full-length albums and three EPs.
“The Film” is a 14-and-a-half-minute-long video that features three singles on the album, and these music videos were the directorial debut of Kristen Stewart, who is the star of the Twilight Saga. “The Film” features three singles, including “$20”, “True Blue”, and “Emily I’m Sorry”. Two of the singles not in “The Film” are “Not Strong Enough” and “Cool About It”.
“True Blue”, featuring lead vocals by Lucy Dacus, is a beautiful track that can be interpreted in many different ways. One could say that it’s about a deep friendship, but it could also be viewed as a romantic relationship. Whether or not it is about romantic love, it definitely focuses on loyalty.
The song is about those people in your life who know you better than you know yourself. Dacus sings, “It feels good to be known so well. I can’t hide from you as I hide from myself.” She finds comfort not being able to escape this person in the same way that she tends to escape from herself.
The music video for this track is quite beautiful. It starts out with Dacus walking through a house, and she finds a room painted white. She starts to paint one of the walls, and soon the whole room blue. While she’s painting, her bandmates appear next to her and start painting in the same shade of blue. It shows how connected Dacus and her bandmates are to one another. The fact that they all paint with the same color shows how intertwined each of them are.
However, the track that really allows Dacus’s vocals to shine is “We’re In Love”. This song illustrates the pain and joy found in being in love with someone. Dacus sings, “You could absolutely break my heart. That’s how I know that we’re in love.” It shows just how much you give yourself to somebody, and when they break up with you, you may have your heart shattered into a million pieces. You feel terrible when they leave and that’s how you know that you’re truly in love.
“Cool About It” is about reconnecting with an old lover, while also trying not to think about what has happened. Dacus laments, “But I’m tryin’ to forget about it, feelin’ like I’m breaking a sweat about it, wishin’ you would kindly get out of my head about it.” She sings of not being able to forget about the situation that she has been in with the other person. She wishes her over would simply get out of her head.
All in all, The Record is a great indie album by Boygenius. It features the best of each of the members’ unique musical styles. You can tell that they put a lot of effort into the writing and production of the album. Definitely check it out!
