Review: the record (lead singles) by boygenius

On January 18th of this year, the collective of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, otherwise known as “boygenius,” announced their revival with the upcoming album, “the record.” On the same day as the album announcement, three tracks from the new album were released: “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue.” The rest of the tracks are set to release on March 31st, 2023, just a few weeks before the group is supposed to perform at the popular music festival Coachella.

The three already-released tracks each primarily feature one of the artists:“$20” highlights the vocals by Baker, “Emily I’m Sorry” features Bridgers as the lead vocalist and “True Blue” is sung by Dacus. Though this is true of each track, all three artists sing backup vocals on the other two songs which was also the case on their first self-titled EP.

While each of the three songs are good in their own right, “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue” really stand out. “Emily I’m Sorry” is a classic Phoebe Bridgers creation; from the lyricism to the sound of the intro guitar, the song could easily fit into any of Bridgers’s solo albums. The same is true of “True Blue.” Though they may not stand out, Dacus’s vocals are so consistently good, and the same is true of her lyrics. “$20,” on the other hand, falls a little flat in comparison. Though she is an immensely talented artist, Baker’s vocals are not quite up to par with those of Bridgers and Dacus and do not bring as much to the track. The lyrics are not quite as clever, and the instrumentals seem a little out of place with the other two songs released. Hopefully, Baker’s other contributions on the rest of the album will make up for what was lost in the initial release.

The first three tracks released off of “the record” are a promising glimpse of what is to come from boygenius this year. There is no doubt in my mind that this group will continue to deliver.