The supergroup composed of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, boygenius, is back. After their self-titled EP release in 2018, the trio released three new songs on January 18, 2023, “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry,” and “True Blue,” with a debut album, titled the record, coming on March 31, 2023.
After hearing rumors and speculation about the group’s return in 2023, there was finally a promise of their return when this year’s Coachella lineup was released, boygenius on the second line of the festival’s Saturday lineup.
The trio graced the cover of this month’s Rolling Stone Magazine ahead of their new release, recreating Nirvana’s 1994 Rolling Stone cover. In their interview, they discuss their process for making their debut album, how they met and started creating music together, and more.
Each song released thus far has featured a different member of the band, allowing their individual styles to come together for a group effort.Â
“$20” was my personal favorite from the surprise drop. The song is led by Julien Baker with backing vocals from Dacus and Bridgers. You can hear elements of Baker’s solo music in this one; I absolutely love how each of these songs stays true to all of their solo work while also allowing them to come together and create a group effort. I am obsessed with the potential references to their past work within this track. A potential reference to the group’s 2018 song “Souvenir,” (“Twenty dollars and a souvenir / Anything’s worth trying”) is made with the title of the song and the screaming in the outro is allusive to the screams in the outro of Bridgers’ 2020 song “I Know The End.” After starting with “$20,” I was very excited to listen to the rest of the release.
“Emily I’m Sorry” is a classic Phoebe Bridgers track. This is the song Bridgers wrote after her 2020 album Punisher, asking the other two if they could be a band again. The song feels very reminiscent of the title track “Punisher” and a mix of “Chinese Satellite” with the way she sings “We can burn out in the freezing cold / And just get lost.” Her melancholic yet hopeful voice on this track paired with lyrics that paint quite the descriptive story force me to love the song. The backing vocals from Dacus and Baker on a track like this feels like friends lifting each other up after difficult moments, something about these songs that I found very endearing. The repetition of “Emily, I’m sorry” makes you feel her hurt and sorrow, making you want to forgive her.
“True Blue” is very reminiscent of Dacus’ work on her album “Home Video.” The lyric “You say you’re a winter bitch / But summer’s in your blood / You can’t help but become the sun” was one of my personal favorites from the track; the idea that someone thinks they are a cold person but is actually warm and draws people to them like the sun was a perfect analogy, one that many people online (myself included) found relatable. After listening to this track realizing that each of the songs had similar qualities as their solo music, I am ecstatic for the rest of the album in March.