More about: Lucy Dacus

The new Lucy Dacus album is a work of art. There aren’t many other ways to accurately describe Dacus’ third album Home Video and its songs full of youth, love, and laughter. Drawing from Dacus’ own adolescent experiences, she has created lush sonic stories both tender and anthemic.

Album opener ‘Hot & Heavy’ is as welcoming as a warm bath after a long day, with a heavy dose of Dacus’ enchanting mysticism, while the track that immediately follows, ‘Christine’, is a haunting story of a friend disappearing into a concerning relationship. One of the most heartbreaking lines this decade comes here in the form of “but if you get married I’d object, throw my shoe at the altar and lose your respect, I’d rather lose my dignity, than lose you to somebody who won’t make you happy”.

The magic of Dacus’ storytelling is her ability to transport you to her Richmond, Virginia youth, whether it’s on the subtle urgency of ‘First Time’ (“sneaking out of the house, I must be out of my mind”),  the nostalgia of ‘VBS’ (“You said I showed you the light but all it did in the end was make the dark feel darker than before”), or the semi-heartbreaking ‘Triple Dog Dare’ (“You passed a note in class, told me to meet you at the overpass, your lip was trembling when you said we are cursed”). 

There’s also the now customary appearances of Dacus’ boygenius band mates Phoebe Bridgers & Julien Baker on ‘Going Going Gone’ and the tender ‘Please Stay’. What Dacus has done with Home Video is nothing short of sensational – it’s an album capable of effortlessly tugging at the heart strings and is almost certainly a shoo-in for some end of year lists. 

Home Video is out now.

More about: Lucy Dacus