Yearners, this is your time!
Lucy Dacus released her album Forever is a Feeling, and I had the immense pleasure of attending an early listening event a day before the album came out on March 28.
Everyone around me knows I adore Lucy and her music, so much so that I even have a tattoo for her last project, Home Video. So, naturally, I (along with many others) excitedly awaited the release of her fourth studio album. This is coming off three Grammy wins for the album, the record, with boygenius collaborators Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker.
Stepping into Dead Dog Records, a Toronto record store which hosted the Forever is a Feeling listening party, excitement and anticipation filled the room of fans inside the store, many of whom were in either Dacus or boygenius-themed attire, and chatting about their favourites of the four singles that Dacus released for the album.
Anticipation for this album has been intense since Dacus is the first of the three boygenius members to release a solo project since the supergroup went on a hiatus.
What has been even more exciting, and nerve-wracking for the songwriter, is that Dacus has since come out with the information that she and Julien Baker have been dating for the past little while, which she came forward with while doing interviews for the album.
Dacus said in the New Yorker that her album reflects on a tenderness and softness that her past three albums, No Burden, Historian, and Home Video, haven’t touched on, and she hopes fans come to this album with “an open heart.”
This kindness and open-hearted attitude was certainly felt in the record store, with everyone sitting quietly on the floor, listening to Dacus pour her heart out through the album. I was no different, sitting cross-legged in the shop’s back corner in my Dacus merch.
Dacus has said that this type of honesty musically does frighten her as the influx of investment in her and her personal life now with her relationship makes the separation from her art entirely disappear. In an interview with Them, she says, “Divulging that much of your heart is scary. It’s like a wordless, low-hum fear.”
The album opens with “Calliope Prelude,” a beautiful strings-based introduction to the tender themes of the album, and the overall vibes of Forever is a Feeling, seeing that the album cover is a painted portrait of Dacus, and she’s been playing smaller shows in churches and museums in anticipation of the album’s release.
“Calliope Prelude” is a beautiful introduction to what feels like a museum full of Dacus’ memories and honest writings, and it transitions into “Big Deal,” which discusses a fixation with someone who is already in a relationship. She touches on how her care for them will transcend the fact that she cannot have this person for herself, and this is one of many tracks on the album that people speculate is about Dacus’ relationship with Baker.
This song is littered with many allusions to their meeting at a shared show where Lucy opened for Julien and they bonded over their love of reading, which is mentioned in the song. Despite this, Dacus’ powerful lyricism and musicality are not to be dismissed, with many beautiful lyrical choices throughout the song.
Following “Big Deal” are “Ankles” and “Limerence,” which were the first two singles for the album and ones fans loved from the jump. When the chorus of “Ankles” came on at the listening party, fans were having a little groove in their seats as they took in the bouncier and lighter tones of the song.
“Modigliani” follows these two tracks and discusses missing a friend while they’re physically far away. The subject of this song is no other than Phoebe Bridgers, who helps provide vocals for the song. Dacus and Baker have a beautiful vocal blend, and it’s just a treat to hear whenever they appear.
The strings and lighter instrumentals carry into “Modigliani,” which creates a very beautiful and ethereal quality to the song that I personally love, as well as lyrics I can relate to because one of my closest friends lives overseas. The lyric “You make me homesick for places I’ve never been before” is one of the heaviest hitters for me on this album for this exact reason.
“Talk,” which comes next, is a guitar-heavy song that discusses the relationship between two people who have become strained and no longer talk after a tumultuous relationship.
“For Keeps” follows and is a folksy guitar piece that shows how poetic Dacus can be lyrically, with lines like “If the Devil’s in the details, then God is in the gap of your teeth. You are doing the Lord’s work every time you smile at me.”
The title track, “Forever is a Feeling,” comes next, followed by “Come Out” and “Best Guess,” and this kickstarts my favourite stretch of the album, which coincidentally ends there. As “Forever is a Feeling” tells its story, you get a feeling of how comfortable Dacus is getting with her honesty in her lyrics, and it makes for a beautiful finish to the album.
“Forever is a Feeling” has some stunning vocal moments from Dacus, with confessions of love towards a person. “Come Out” includes clever callbacks to childhood innocence with the calling of “Come out, come out, wherever you are, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you in my arms.”
“Come Out” is one of my favourites on the album for this reason — it highlights the true childlike wonder of a romance with someone and how pure yearning for another person can ring true to something like a first crush, and now you stubbornly want nothing more than to have your lover in your arms. The harpsichord featured in this song also aids in that feeling to feel like a fairytale that Dacus is telling us of her own.
“Best Guess,” which has been one of the more popular singles off this album (and for good reason!), speaks of a relationship that has the narrator totally enamoured with their lover, and it has a fun, indie-pop sound, making for an easy listen.
“Bullseye (with Hozier),” “Most Wanted Man,” and “Lost Time” close out the album, and to say Dacus fans were hyped for this stretch of the album would be an understatement.
“Bullseye” is Dacus’ first real feature with another artist outside of boygenius, and many of her fans are also Hozier fans, myself included. This was a match made in heaven, with Dacus and Hozier’s vocals blending with absolute perfection. I’m not joking when I saw people’s jaws drop and eyes fill with tears when this song came on at the Forever is a Feeling event.
“Most Wanted Man” is another indie-rock tune, but with some more country elements, like a twangier guitar, and more present drums. This song speaks of how two lovers are inseparable and are tied together in more ways than one, discussing how they are “living the dream before we fully pass our prime.” Dacus discusses how she “Just wants to make you happy, will you let me spend a lifetime trying? And if you do, I’ll have time to write the book on you.”
“Lost Time” closes out our time with Dacus, and this is a beautiful end to an album filled with tenderness and honesty. Dacus sings of how she wants to make up for lost time and missed moments with her lover, stating, “Nothing is forever, but let’s see how far we get. So when it’s my turn to lose you, I’ll have made the most of it.” And this perfectly encapsulates the themes of the album.
Nothing is forever, but forever is nothing but a feeling, especially when you have the right person. So savour forever, because it’s temporary, and Dacus helps show what her forever is with a mix of delicate strings, beautiful lyrics, and recollections of a love that Dacus has yearned for.
If you’re anything like me, and are a yearner at heart or in the throes of new love, give Forever is a Feeling a look, you won’t regret it.