Boygenius: The Indescribable Bond That Created One of the Best Albums of 2023

By Alex Keagle (they/them)

After the band’s six-song EP was released in August of 2018, individual fans of the three artists, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers, came together to celebrate songs that combine personal and earnest lyricism with even more honest instrumentals. The band name “boygenius” plays on the misogynistic stereotype that men can live their life with the expectation of becoming something great. It’s an example of perfect irony and reflects the uniqueness of this group of musicians.

 For some backstory, Baker and Dacus met in 2016 on tour, and they bonded closely because of shared experiences in Southern religious upbringing. Bridgers joined the duo later on. After all being grouped in the same “indie-rock/folk” category with their respective solo careers, they decided it was time to test their flawless dynamic out in the recording studio. After almost 5 years in a lull of their collaborative content, with the band focusing on their 2020 and 2021 album releases, we fast forward to the beginning of this year, with fans capturing a Nirvana-inspired photoshoot on the streets of L.A. Soon, their debut album “the record” was announced, and the return of the indie rock supergroup “boygenius” was forthcoming.

The overarching theme of friendship in “the record” is something that can be seen from the surface, but its true depth is often overlooked. I feel, as a writer, that it is near impossible to articulate how much a person really means to you, especially a friendship in which you are bonded through trauma or, in this case, mutual queerness. What the three bandmates manage to accomplish in “the record” is something that I have never seen before. They manage to put into words the feeling of knowing that you would do anything for another person. In the Dacus-led ballad, “We’re in Love,” listeners fully feel the extent to which boygenius is communicating their emotions. The first two lines share, “You could absolutely break my heart/That's how I know that we're in love.” This line shares two meanings, one being that it conveys the idea that only a relationship with consequences feels like a “real” relationship, but comparatively, that pain is what brings people together. And in the most simplistic way, boygenius describes the depth and profundity of their complex love for one another. “It was not like falling in love. It was falling in love,” (Rolling Stone 2023) Bridgers explains in the context of the writing of their EP. “Leonard Cohen” explains a vivid memory the three share of Bridgers driving, but becomes so encompassed with a song (“The Trapeze Swinger” by Iron & Wine) that Baker and Dacus don’t have the heart to tell her that she is driving the wrong way. She ends up driving miles off course and adds an hour to the venture. The line that repeats at the end, with Dacus finally joining in with Baker and Bridgers, “I never thought you’d happen to me,” once again brings together the true love these three feel for each other. It is unlike anything else I have ever seen in a group collaboration; the sheer intensity that each member is able to communicate through their songwriting. It is so painfully honest, and with every listen, I find myself uncovering another layer of emotion that had gone unnoticed before. “The record” is a letter to their old selves and is a process of healing that Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus are all going through together.

As each member is openly queer, boygenius caters to a special audience that is so perfectly suited to their flavor of music. The themes that repeat throughout all three of their solo careers mend to form a massive bundle of queer joy in “the record.” It is then delivered in the most boygenius way possible, from Baker’s angsty and melancholic tones to Bridgers’ belts and screams, and brought to the surface with Dacus’ soothing harmonies. The boys (as they are known by fans) seem to be healing together throughout the tracklist. They tackle self-doubt in “Not Strong Enough” and uncertainty in “We’re in Love” while also celebrating their teenage selves in “Satanist” and finally believing they want to be happy while overcoming a toxic relationship in “Letter to an Old Poet.” The first three singles, $20 (Baker), Emily I’m Sorry (Bridgers), and True Blue (Dacus) all feel like a continuation of their most recent album releases, where they discuss their experiences by themselves but feel different in the fact that they now have these supporting voices behind them. This continues the theme of healing from past relationships or experiences, before joining each other on the fourth track, “Cool About It,” they exit that period in time, continuing the story of boygenius’ one-of-a-kind bond. They find a way to relate so deeply to one another through their parallel lives, together, as a unit, they become bulletproof. “It’s so hard to relate to people. Except for those guys,” Bridgers says. “being with them makes it so much less dark” (Rolling Stone 2023).

 The reason the music feels so honest and secure is because boygenius itself is the same. They have created a project that feels so deeply personal and relatable that it is difficult to not feel immediately entranced by their chemistry. What “the record” has managed to do with its fans is outstanding, by bringing diverse groups together simply with the charm of their own dynamic. This album has made history in many books for truly showcasing genius collaboration, paired with even more genius lyricism.

Works Cited

Martoccio, Angie. “How Boygenius Became the World's Most Exciting Supergroup.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/boygenius-julien-baker-phoebe-bridgers-lucy-dacus-the-record-interview-1234660514/. 

“The Record by ​Boygenius.” Genius, https://genius.com/albums/Boygenius/The-record. 

Zhang, Cat. “Boygenius: The Record.” Pitchfork, https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/boygenius-the-record/.