Lucy Dacus has a way of noticing the smallest objects or moments – like a sixty-day sober chip on a dresser, the zipper of someone’s dress or clasp of their necklace – and using them to take the listener to a place they’ve been before.
On “Forever is a Feeling,” Dacus bounces around feelings of doubt, regret but most of all: love.
The indie rock singer who is also a member of boygenius her band with friends and fellow-singer songwriters Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, released her fourth studio album on Friday, March 28. The album release came shortly after the confirmation of a relationship between Dacus and Baker by Bridgers via Instagram story.
Dacus welcomes you to the album with “Calliope Prelude,” a string instrumental that comes in at just over a minute, leading directly into the simple guitar strums and drum beats of “Big Deal.”
On this track, Dacus digs the inevitable end of a seemingly doomed relationship, but with one simple reassurance no matter the outcome – “But if we never talk about it again / There’s something I want you to understand / You’re a big deal,” repeating the last bit again and again.
The next track, “Ankles,” is perhaps Dacus’ best love song to date. She exudes gratitude in lines like, “How lucky are we to have so much to lose?” and in unadorned images of doing the crossword and making tea with your lover in the morning.
“Limerence” switches the vibe with a slightly eerie piano and continues on the thought of the eventual end of a relationship, singing, “I’m thinking about breaking your heart someday soon, and if I do, I’ll be breaking mine too.”
“Modigliani” and “Talk” cover two opposing feelings that come at the beginning and end of a relationship. The former is the beginning: butterflies in your stomach, needing to tell someone everything that comes to mind and wanting to listen to every word out of their mouth. The latter feels like knowing the end is coming, and the things that were once second nature, like talking, are now continuously questioned.
Despite the sadness in so many of Dacus’ songs, it’s hopeful lines like, “If the Devil’s in the details, then God is in the gap between your teeth,” on “For Keeps,” that shine the brightest. Many of her lyrics feel like they were written years ago, and she’s finally found a fit for that piece in the puzzle of her work.
On the title track, she affirms the main theme of the album thus far – even if this doesn’t actually last forever — which we know it won’t — this love is as powerful as the concept of “forever,” and maybe more important. “Forever is a feeling, and I know it well,” she sings in the chorus, with her bandmates coming in for a harmonious repetition of the title into the end of the song.
“Come Out,” is a love song that feels like it could have been on her 2021 album, “Home Video,” which is filled with childlike scenes of parent’s basements, screened in porches and triple dog dares, as she compares being away from your partner to a game of hide and seek.
“Best Guess” and “Bullseye,” featuring Hozier, are hopeful odes to Dacus’ doubts about this relationship. By referring to this person as her “best guess,” “best bet” and “dumb luck,” she proves that she knows this love is a risk, but one she’s willing to take. “Most Wanted Man,” is another love song that voices some of the people–pleasing feelings in relationships.
Finally, Dacus again shows off her incredible talent for closers on “Lost Time.” She sings of the days wasted before two people admit their feelings to each other, and again, the presumed end to their love (“Nothing lasts forever but let’s see how far we get / So when it comes my time to lose you / I’ll have made the most of it“).
The song switches as an electric guitar comes in with about one minute left, evoking the feeling of regret and fear that have been sung throughout the whole album. She sings lines like “I notice everything about you, I can’t help it / It’s not a choice, it’s been this way since we met,” with what feels like a lump in her throat.
On “Forever is a Feeling,” Lucy Dacus proves again and again her incredible aptitude for creating images that perfectly reflect the feelings we can’t quite name. There isn’t another artist who sings about love — of any kind — with the same kind of thoughtfulness and depth as she does.
This story was written by Annie Goode. She can be reached at annie.goode@marquette.edu.
