I could just go play these gigs in bigger venues than Im used to playing, and then I could just continue to go home and go help my neighbors mow their lawn., She eyes the menu. Dacus, preternaturally placid, is clearly the glue of it all. Add a Santa Barbara sea urchin? she asks herself. We meet here because they make espresso tonics, Bakers favorite coffee beverage. They tended to play coy, and today they recite their go-to responses as the waves smack the shore: Bridgers tends to say, If it ever works out again; Baker, Probably in an undisclosed time in the future; while Dacus utters a simple, Gee, I wish!. Dacus, 27, delicately sets a scene too evocative to deny. I feel an uncomplicated pride about it., Adds Bridgers: Were obsessed with each other. Bridgers was so enraptured that she lost sight of the GPS, and her bandmates didnt have the heart to tell her she was headed in the wrong direction. Phoebe Bridgers is the first to admit that she's not reinventing herself on her new album. We were like, Yo! Just immediately straight into a cultural lexicon that we share. We want to hear it. Boygenius Recreated Nirvana's Iconic Rolling Stone Cover - Insider I just am in love with her, Bridgers says of SZA. I cant be the partner that you want me to be. But also being like, Im too fucked up. That you can come together every once in a while, make something good, and then stop. Im obsessed with that format, because when its done poorly, its so shitty, Bridgers explains. Phoebe Bridgers Has Auspicious Astrology - GQ I want to build a whole world when I make anything and I feel like youre very similar. Bridgers nods and says, Definitely. Recorded in Memphis, TN, the record weaves together unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and . [Now] thats one of my favorite songs on the record. Later, when the band listened to it together in the car, Dacus and Bridgers held hands. It opens with the jarring rip of a synth, before drums begin to bleed in ahead of the chorus. Leslie Feinbergs Stone Butch Blues. Julien Baker. @phoebe bridgers. @lucy dacus. Together - TikTok Bridgers smiles thinking about another contender. The record has sonic influences but, on a deeper level, were influenced by the space and opportunity to make bad art for a long time., That leads to a digression about, as Baker puts it, that one cool teacher who was like, Hey kid, I heard your band is releasing a record you dont have to turn in your homework! The trio of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers talk about their great new EP and pushing back against being . boygenius, the record review: Indie supergroup are greater than the sum Rachel Yoders Nightbitch. They teased it with three new songs: "$20," "Emily . Before The Record, the album had many possible titles, all of which reflect typical boygenius humor: American Idiot, The White Album, Beach Boys, and so on. It feels valid: on The Record, Baker, Bridgers and Dacus pack layer upon layer into their sound, standing tall and exquisite. I dont think that my life can change and blow up without my permission. 11. I just sat in my dressing room eating my little hummus tray and before I left I timidly tapped on their door. Repeat 11. Im trying to look back with love at that person. Theyd work long days, often 10 hours or more, and unwind by watching thrillers like Promising Young Woman, The Handmaiden, and Yellowjackets. Bridgers has been making music for a while and released her first album in 2017. Thats like so sweet.. They were acclaimed songwriters living parallel lives, yet they sounded like one cohesive, awesome unit partly because of how much they relate to one another on a fundamental level. Yet equality has always driven the bandmates, all of whom identify as queer: There is no frontwoman, and everyone is encouraged to suggest or veto ideas. Marks said the way Boygenius works isnt at all typical. Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus could have kept charging along with their solo careers and personal ambitions. Soon they were sending long missives back and forth, trading book recommendations, and developing crushes on each other, which they didnt admit to until later. Bridgers and Baker, along with their fellow bandmate Lucy Dacus, released boygenius's self-titled debut EP in 2018. That, right there, captures the greatness of boygenius in just 36 words: Theyre the kind of songwriters wholl earnestly quote a heartbreaking truth from an old man, then turn around and gently roast him in the next line. We get love-watched., And Boygenius loves its fans right back, especially the kids. Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus are all beloved solo artists, though Bridgers broke through to the music-your-dad-has-heard-of level during the pandemic with her sophomore album, Punisher (which earned her four Grammy nominations), and collaborations with Taylor Swift, McCartney, Lorde, and others (shes slated to open for Swift in the spring). I had been a fan of her music through the internet, but she seemed very intimidatingly cool. Thats like being smothered to death by puppies., The incident inspired Anti-Curse, a headbanging highlight of The Record, in which Baker looks back on that day while folding in several Easter eggs. IN MALIBU, and Zuma Beach is empty, save for a husky on the shore and a surfer waist-deep in the ocean. The way theyve built themselves into this prominence, without doing anything much other than writing really good songs, feels remarkable. Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Three songs are out now and preview a . Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Highlight Reel 12. User Score 8.4 Universal acclaim based on 47 Ratings Your Score 0 On a March afternoon in a mattress store in the Uncut Gems part of Manhattan, Boygenius the potent assemblage of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers is trying on Victorian gowns. It took me a minute to realize that. But just on a personal level, I dont want to be pigeonholed in that. Album: The Record. It was on one of those writing trips that Leonard Cohen was born. There's a picture of me at 13 years old; I'm wearing a Mastodon T-shirt and I have an acoustic guitar. Phoebe Bridgers on 'Punisher,' Normal People, and Ryan Adams Ill make out with yall.. For one thing, one of my other favorite musicians (Sara . Five years later, the powerhouse women of Boygenius masterfully recapture the same magic in their first full-length album, "The Record." It is a moneyed and razor-sharp commitment to the bit. Julien Baker on befriending Phoebe Bridgers: 'She seemed very intimidatingly cool' Ahead of the release of Julien Baker's third album, Little Oblivions, the singer-songwriter spoke to GQ. On her sprawling and self-referential new LP, Del Reys lyrics deliver a staggering blend of the profound and the vernacular. [-FPFM] [] the record - boygenius >>> Produced by rhianna rule. If Night Shift was the ultimate breakup song, Were in Love is the definitive love letter to friendship a stripped-back, spellbinding ode to the band that made Catherine Marks cry while recording. I play to thousands of people a night, and sometimes Im mentally in a really bad place, Bridgers says. It would be more effective for a kid to look at photos of the live set or at the album credits and to understand this world is accessible to them than trying to make an explicit statement about [the band having] only queer folks., Individually, boygenius are all signed to indie labels Bridgers is on Dead Oceans, while Baker and Dacus are both on Matador. How boygenius Became the Worlds Most Exciting Supergroup, Gordon Lightfoot: 10 Essential Songs by the Canadian Folk Icon, Almost Famous Didnt Last on Broadway. Best known for her work as a solo singer-songwriter, she is also known for being part of the musical groups boygenius (with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) and Better Oblivion Community Center (with Conor Oberst).Bridgers made her solo debut with the studio album Stranger in the Alps (2017 . Bridgers came up with the mattress store-slash-gowns idea a few days ago, she explains afterward, clarifying theres no grander gesture there beyond a pushback to your standard musicians-try-to-look-cool shoots: I like to look a little stupid. Lying on her stomach, she gives a stare so intensely focused it suggests she would be crushingly successful in whatever field shed chosen. The boys, as they call themselves, are Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, all solo artists in their own right. Bridgers has realizations . I want the most joy that I can get, and I want that for everyone that I love. All rights reserved. Covid happened, and I didnt feel superproductive, she says. Boygenius Wants to Be More Than the 'Cool, Obscure Thing' - The Atlantic It was a heavy thing to connect on, but shes such a great person to have those conversations with because shes wildly intelligent and really fucking funny., After recovering from opioid abuse, Baker quickly found herself in the straight-edge hardcore scene. It didnt, which speaks to the strength of the sessions. I'll hold my hands up here. Honestly, it was the most fun Ive had making a record in my entire life., As for the content of the group chat, the boys their preferred collective terminology are good with banter. Phoebe Bridgers' 'Kyoto' Is About Her Dad, but a Little About Her The late-November sky is the precise shade of a cerulean crayon, and the lighting is almost too perfect. She had a strained relationship with her father, who inspired her Punisher single Kyoto, though they reconciled during the pandemic. Very childrens-book vibes. I The first full-length album from Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus evinces a premptive nostalgia for the honeymoon phase of creative collaboration. : You said all my friends are on my payroll/Youre not wrong, youre an asshole. Some fans theorized that bit was about Mescal, while I wondered if it was Bright Eyes Conor Oberst, her bandmate in Better Oblivion Community Center, whom she is rumored to have also dated. Baker made chicken wings for the boys. They check in on each others attempted vibes. She finds potential material midconversation, like during lunch with the Boys, when she said, My birth mother told me that in her fifties she found anger like it was under her bed. That sentence rocked me. boygenius Returns, Confident and Connected on 'The Record' - The New Ive been like a prototypical queer lady redirecting the conversation to dogs, she says. Or just glance at the cover of this magazine, where theyve replicated our January 1994 Nirvana cover. (modern). Im just looking pissed off, Bridgers reports. (Polydor/Interscope)The US indie-rock supergroup skewer the male ego on this magnificent meeting of harmonies and minds. And we talked about it in the car the whole rest of the tour. If you've ever been to one of her intimate live shows, you'll know this: alone on stage, she uses only a guitar, a keyboard and a loop pedal. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. A Brief Oral History of Boygenius | Vogue She brought the most to the table., The trio took two writing trips Healdsburg, California, in April 2021, and Malibu in August 2021 and worked via text, in a group chat thats been going strong since 2018. When I express this thought aloud, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus otherwise known as boygenius erupt with laughter. Lana Del Rey, Boygenius, Maggie Rogers Lead 2023 All Things Go Festival Phoebe Bridgers Wants To 'Normalize Talking Sh*t About Fans' Im about to lose a chess game. That should be the headline, Dacus says. I think my life is better sober. OK, Seriously, What Was Frank Oceans Deal at Coachella? C.S. She was very sweet, she took me to lunch and talked to me about being kind and being a musician and life and stuff. Anyone who loves boygenius intensely lovesick 2018 track Me and My Dog will be even more devastated by Letter to an Old Poet, a brutally honest monologue about an all-consuming love. That song is about when someone has so much power over you, they stop being a person, she explains (while declining to say who its about). Shut up. Their evocative musical arrangements and honest, relatable lyrics have earned them a reputation for leading an artistic vanguard that celebrates self-reflection and splendid songwriting. Photography direction by emma reeves. Even the Austin airport is doing SXSW: boygenius gives surprise shows The line Salt in my lungs recalls the Dacus-sung boygenius track Salt in the Wound, while later, a melody from Bridgers Savior Complex surfaces. My parents would let me get one CD at Best Buy when they went in for appliances or whatever and I remember being in the habit of buying a whole record and not knowing what it sounded like. Theres a real sense of levity and humor while still sticking true to their intensity and their depth as songwriters.. Bridgers posted a photo of herself with hot-pink hair, sitting alongside her father and sharing headphones with him. Production assistance douglas stuckey and kurt lavastida. I guess I just saw other people doing it and I wanted to try. I was also extremely star struck then. Boygenius is a rare collection of revered young songwriters, each with their own unique ability to make their fans cry. The highly-anticipated album's been a long time coming. Bridgers, a 28-year-old L.A. native who recently bought a house in nearby Calabasas, is in her signature black attire, except for a beige baseball cap that reads Lucy loves me, Dads fear me. It refers to Thumbs, a track off Dacus instant-classic 2021 solo album, Home Video, where she fantasizes about murdering her friends shitty dad. She let us sleep on her floor and made us tofu scramble. When Bakers tuna poke doesnt arrive, a concerned Bridgers asks the waiter of its whereabouts. The . When I was a teen, I went to festivals, and those shows are burned into my head. Julien is really an amazing instrumentalist and she has an incredible ear for tone and arrangement, and Phoebe is a super-creative idea machine. Manicure by sreynin peng at opus beauty. "Phoebe was like, 'You have . Tudzin worked separately on The Record in Bob Dylans old tour bus in the yard. Indie-Rock Supergroup boygenius Returns, and 5 More New Songs In 2018, singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers, all known for their solo acts, debuted as boygenius with their self-titled EP. She didn't give me explicit advice or anything or a neat little anecdote. Ingenious of Boygenius - Leona Zerezghi, St. Michael's Catholic Grammar We dig deep into the magic of Boygenius Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker and gently correct their facts on Leonard Cohen, The new Rolling Stone Music Now episode explores the music of Boygenius Boygenius (from left: Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker), The Genius of Boygenius: Inside the Supergroup Saving Rock, You Are Grimes Now: Inside Musics Weird AI Future, Andor Star Diego Luna on Bold Season Two and Why Hes Done With Cassian. Something thats been really important to us is to be able to exist like any other band: to make a sick song and have that not be weighted because of all these extraneous identifiers that we work within, says Baker. I can hold my own in the ocean. I could not. Ill give them each a little kiss on the head and tuck them in.. But together, the boys really sing, their deep connection evident in both the music and their conversations about it. Initially I wanted to be polite and respectful. We were living and breathing the record the entire time. The Cut on Twitter: "With a new record and a press tour around it "I n another life we were arsonists," goes a lyric on this first album from Boygenius, the supergroup consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus - three of the most . The Infinite Gay Joy of Boygenius | Them I feel like Im going to be 50 years old and run a pit bull rescue or some fucking shit., Hardcore fans can instantly identify Bakers role in any boygenius song, from her searing guitar to one-liners that rip your heart out. (Also, theres discussion of the fact that Lana Del Rey also pays homage to the very same line in the very same Cohen song on her just-released track Kintsugi, as discussed on last weeks episode. Mariah Schneider, her partner of three years, bakes bread. All three musicians have been consistently slaying for years, both in their breathtaking solo work and 2018 self-titled EP.Bridgers has found the most mainstream success, but Baker and Dacus have an equally notable ability to craft complex, emotionally . Lighting design by byron nickelberry. Thanks, Mom, Baker says to her bandmate, beaming. I think it was at an open-mic night at Otherlands coffee shop in Memphis, a well-known place that's been there forever. Her black skinny jeans are rolled above her Doc Martens. By the end, in-jest abuse would be flying through the texts.. There was never any passive-aggression. Fox Has a Secret Oppo File to Keep Tucker Carlson in Check, Sources Say During a Malibu writing trip, she went for a swim, ignoring Bridgers warning that the tide was too high. A recent Rolling Stone cover story was headed Boygenius: The Supergroup We Need. When you internalize it, your personality is sadness, which is a lot of the time tied to depression, which a lot of the time is tied to detachment from life. Hardline 2. Bridgers: You let me have food on my face. Bob Dylan, Phoebe Bridgers And More of The Week's Best Music I never thought that a major was what I needed or the kind of trajectory that I aspired to, explains Baker. Shared Google Drives and voice memos tossed into the group chat followed. They decide that January when they will release the singles $20, Emily Im Sorry, and True Blue is a solid month. Now a proper big-time photo shoot is unfolding. Bridgers parents divorced in 2015, when she was 20 years old. Little Oblivions by Julien Baker, released 26 February 2021 1. Review: Boygenius is cohesive and powerful in 'The Record' At the home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, that she purchased in March, shell make them with orange Angostura bitters and simple syrup, topped with a slice of orange. Dacus left Richmond for Philadelphia in 2019. Later, when I phone Bridgers and ask if thats the case, she says, I do not recall, as a politician would say. Shes equally vague about the future of BOCC, saying, I dont know.. It was the first date of their tour together, and the first time any of them had played that historic venue; it was also the debut of a collab a girl group that they'd come to call, with clever irony, boygenius. I was in the seventh grade. As if that wasnt enough, she tops off the track with Bridgers favorite Joan Didion quote: Was anyone ever so young?, On an uncharacteristically cloudy morning in Venice, California, I meet Baker at a coffee shop thats blasting Abbey Road on a loop. Turn Out the Lights - Julien Baker (2017). Phoebe Bridgers brings boygenius bandmate Julien Baker on - guitarworld After her career exploded with Punisher, going out in public became tougher. No blood for oil! And my parents were like, Youre literally 10., Baker grew up gay in an evangelical household in Memphis. For the groups just-released full-length debut, The Record, it signed with the major label Interscope. Theres a way to [be a fan] without filming me without my permission behind the back of my head, chasing me down the street.. I was like, Were gonna be friends. They quickly bonded over Southern backgrounds (Baker is from Tennessee, Dacus from Virginia) that were deeply rooted in religion. It must have happened to me like a million times in the first year of touring. Phoebe Bridgers - Wikipedia Three years since her debut, Bridgers has returned with a head rush of personal growth, loss, and catharsis in Punisher. It got Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart to make a movie about the group. We set out to make one song, and made six, Bridgers says. That was a turning point for me musically, those two albums. In 2018 and 2019, Phoebe was romantically linked to her close friend Emily Bannon. The first time you were given really excellent advice. Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus made an EP together as boygenius in 2018, then returned to their own ascending solo careers. Being with them makes it so much less dark., Dacus, who performed more than 150 shows on the Home Video tour, agrees: We feel an element of home together. The first time you heard a song you wish you'd written. We were able to commiserate about the less enjoyable aspects of this job, Dacus says. A.M. There was a year that I didnt talk to my mom and I had a Friendsgiving, and it was so beautiful and perfect, she says. Faith Healer 4. With Boygenius, though, people are engaging not with our identities but with the thesis statement of the whole thing, Dacus says. Baker lights up when she talks about her two dogs. Its harder to maintain, and its been an ongoing thing that requires a lot of humility., I wonder how Baker feels about fame and whether shell welcome an increase in attention after The Record. Our interpersonal dynamics the collective, not the individual are part of the personality of the band. But if theres any one thing that theyre about, well, its just themselves. Crying Wolf 6. Photography assistance by nicol biesek. Im unknowable in some deep way! Self-hatred is a god complex sometimes, where you think youre the most fucked-up person whos ever lived. Phoebe Bridgers is speaking out after she joined Mandy Moore and five other women in coming forward with allegations of harassment and emotional abuse against singer-songwriter Ryan Adams . Boygenius: The Record review - Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy So, howd you do in your life?. Reunited, boygenius navigates intimacy, relationships Emily Im Sorry is a heart-wrenching song with lyrics like, Emily, forgive me, can we/Make it up as we go along/Im 27 and I dont know who I am/But I know what I want. Revolution 0, initially titled Paul Is Dead, after the Beatles conspiracy theory, is about Bridgers falling in love online. (Bridgers didnt say who the song refers to, but fans will likely speculate its Irish actor Paul Mescal.) The supergroup Boygenius are happiest making sad music together Because before that I was just listening to heavy bands, just Winds Of Plague, thinking the only way to express my emotion was doom metal. Boygenius' Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker & Lucy Dacus on 'The Record I had an argument with my manager about having a rider. Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus set 'the record' straight on boygenius LP. I simply need to talk about the genius (haha) new album from renowned Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker indie outfit, boygenius. But it was 2018s Historian that first shook listeners, particularly the brutal, nearly seven-minute breakup anthem Night Shift, where she painfully bids farewell to a lover she still has to work with (You got a 9 to 5, so Ill take the night shift/And Ill never see you again if I can help it). She had an acoustic. Both of them are incredible lyricists. Boygenius already landed the cover of Rolling Stone. The end result of all that hard work and loving s talking is already landing some of the best reviews of the year. And the boys have a sinus infection. It was probably at some godforsaken piano recital. Its so hard to relate to people. Craigs Beds was previously sleepily serene. Baker can sum up her enthusiasm with one sentence, which she says in the third person: This bitch loves a Google Drive. After Bridgers sent her demo, Baker created a folder containing several Logic demos, each titled boygenius 1, boygenius 2, boygenius 3, and so on. Phoebe Bridgers On 'Punisher,' Conor Oberst And The Poetry Of