Stick me in the ICU or keep me in the waiting room, because boygenius has returned with a new EP, ‘the rest,’ and it is punishingly good. There are only four songs on this EP, but that didn’t stop Phoebe Bridgers, Julian Baker, and Lucy Dacus from giving me motion sickness because of how good it was. Each musician was given their own song to shine in that carries a personal message from all of them, plus a song blending all three. This album directly follows ‘the record’ which gained major popularity on songs like ‘Cool About It’ and ‘Not Strong Enough’ but this EP switches up the vibes.
Black Hole is the first song on the EP and starts off slow with a morse-code sounding noise, and Lucy Dacus takes the first verse talking about the black hole of the night sky, bringing a literal sense to the title of the song. It begins to pick up and reminds me of a coming of age montage in a queer indie film. Then Phoebe Bridgers comes in on the upswing of the music with drums and guitars, dragging metaphor back in with her as she sings about a false smile and needing to hear someone’s voice.
Afraid of Heights is the second track on the EP and definitely my favorite. Bridgers’ contribution to the EP sounds like a love story if one of them was toxic and the other was on a downward spiral. It sounds a lot like her previous work on both boygenius albums and her solo works like Punisher. The song itself is a comedown from the song before it, and her brilliant lyricism shows itself once again. Her voice is unique and complemented by her choice of acoustic guitar with little other noise. This song immediately made it onto my fall playlist and ruins my day in a good way every time I hear it.
The third song is titled Voyager and is Lucy Dacus’s addition. This song made me want to go work a night shift with how much it hurt my feelings. It opens with Dacus humming, and it’s an equally depressing love story about two people that have split apart, and the singer used to believe that no one could love their ex partner like they could. That verse is followed by reminiscing over nights the two spent together and moments where their relationship got precarious.
This fourth song on the EP, Powers, is penned and performed by Julian Baker and successfully turns out the lights with its finality. It’s depressing and personal and bleeds in the earbuds of the listener. The song’s core thoughts can be presumed as Baker questioning how she got there, as her first album was recorded in three days and put on Bandcamp with little fanfare. It ends with instrumentals, closing out the EP to be just as heartbreaking as boygenius’ previous works.
A series of lyric videos were released with the EP for all of the songs, and unique to this EP are the handwritten lyrics by the primary singer. It’s a beautiful touch to an already personal album and really brings together the indie, coming of age energy that I get from this band. I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard them in a montage one day.
