Hear the First Three Singles from Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers’ boygenius EP

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Hear the First Three Singles from Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers’ boygenius EP

The good people at Matador Records have finally pulled back the curtain on the new supergroup made up of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. The all-star singer-songwriter trio’s self-titled, six-track EP boygenius is coming out on Nov. 9 via Matador, but you can hear the project’s first three singles down below.

Dacus, Baker and Bridgers’ mysterious and much-anticipated team-up first made waves in early August when Bridgers confirmed its existence at an NPR Music event. Soon after, a media outlet received a photo of the group, accompanied only by the word “boygenius” and the Matador logo. We now know that to be the name of both the trio and their forthcoming release, previewed via lead singles “Me & My Dog,” “Bite The Hand” and “Stay Down.”

Bridgers takes point on the affectionate, yet anxiety-ridden “Me & My Dog,” singing over steady electric guitar strums, “I had a fever / until I met you / Now you make me cool / but sometimes I still do / something embarrassing,” her gossamer vocals giving way to delicate banjo notes and droning synths. Baker’s voice bolsters Bridgers’ as the chorus-less song crescendos, pushing through the fears that obstruct desire. “I dream about it and I wake up from it,” the duo conclude, their voices drowned out by a rising tide of reverb.

Second single “Bite The Hand” is Dacus’ chance to shine, an unflinching declaration of independence that would have fit right in on Historian. What sets it apart from her solo work, however, is its choruses, on which Dacus, Baker and Bridgers harmonize to drop-dead gorgeous and increasingly powerful effect, warning an unwanted partner, “I can’t love you how you want me to.” The song closes on their voices, with nothing but bare conviction against the silence.

The devastating “Stay Down,” meanwhile, is all Baker, her trademark reverb-steeped guitars and emotive vocals expanded upon with scattershot percussion and moving strings. Her lyrics are shot through with heart-rending resignation: “I wasn’t a fighter till somebody told me / I had better learn to lean into the punch / so it don’t hurt as bad when they leave / There you were, turning your cheek,” Baker begins, later demanding, “Push me down into the water like a sinner, roll me under / and I’ll never come up again / I’ll just stay down.” Fuck us up, boygenius.

Dacus, Baker and Bridgers head out on tour together this November, though they won’t do so as a trio—rather, they’ll each be performing their own solo sets. But who knows? Judging by the unpredictable way in which their boygenius team-up has come to light, perhaps the collaborators will see their way to delivering some surprises live, as well.

Listen to boygenius’ “Me & My Dog,” “Bite The Hand” and “Stay Down” right here, and revisit Baker and Bridgers’ Paste Studio sessions below. Keep scrolling to see the trio’s tour dates, plus the boygenius tracklist and album art.

boygenius Tracklist:
01. Bite The Hand
02. Me & My Dog
03. Souvenir
04. Stay Down
05. Salt In The Wound
06. Ketchum, ID

boygenius Album Art:

boygenius packshot.jpg

Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers with Lucy Dacus Tour Dates:

November
04 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Ryman Auditorium
06 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Brooklyn Steel
07 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Brooklyn Steel
08 – Boston, Mass. @ Orpheum Theatre
10 – Toronto, Ontario @ Danforth Music Hall
11 – Detroit, Mich. @ Majestic Theatre
12 – Chicago, Ill. @ Thalia Hall
13 – Chicago, Ill. @ Thalia Hall
15 – St Louis, Mo. @ The Pageant
16 – Madison, Wis. @ The Sylvee
17 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
19 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
20 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ The Depot
23 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Commodore Ballroom
24 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Moore Theatre
25 – Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
27 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater
29 – San Diego, Calif. @ The Observatory North Park
30 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern

Julien Baker Tour Dates:

August
25 – Asbury Park, N.J. @ Stone Pony (Shadow of the City Festival) w/ Bleachers, Hayley Kiyoko
29 – Cologne, Germany @ C/O Pop

September
01 – Larmer Tree Gardens, U.K. @ End of the Road Festival
03 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique #
04 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso #
05 – Hamburg, Germany @ Elbphilharmonie #
07 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Hotel Cecil #
08 – Bergen, Norway @ Perfect Sounds Forever #
10 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Kagelbanan #
13 – Leipzig, Germany @ UT Connewitz #
14 – Prague, Czech Republic @ NOD #
15 – Vienna, Austria @ Felx #
16 – Munich, Germany @ Ampere #
18 – Milan, Italy @ Ohibo #
20 – Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn #
22 – Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie #
24 – Manchester, U.K. @ Gorilla #
25 – Glasglow, U.K. @ St Luke’s #
27 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street #
29 – London U.K. @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire #

(# denotes Becca Mancari supporting)

Phoebe Bridgers Tour Dates:

August
21 – London, U.K. @ Scala

September
20 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Palladium #
21 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Palladium #
22 – Santa Barbara, Calif. @ Santa Barbara Bowl #
27 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Mann Center #
28 – Columbia, Md. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion #
29 – Forest Hills, N.Y. @ Forest Hills Stadium #

October
03 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ The Van Buren *
04 – Pioneertown, Calif. @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
05 – Santa Cruz, Calif. @ Cocoanut Grove *
07 – Sanoma, Calif. @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery *

(# denotes with The National)
(* denotes with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band)

Lucy Dacus Tour Dates:

August
21 – Guilford, U.K. @ The Boileroom
23 – Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn Festival
25 – Aarhus, Denmark @ Recession at Radar
26 – Malmo, Sweeden @ Plan B
27 – Oslo, Norway @ Open Oya Festival
28 – Bergen, Norway @ Perfect Sounds Forever Festival
31 – Salisbury, U.K. @ End Of The Road Festival

September
02 – Dublin, Ireland @ Electric Picnic Festival
14 – Charlottesville, Va. @ Jefferson Theater
29 – Upper Marlboro, Md. @ Outessa Festival

October
22 – Norwich, U.K. @ Norwich Arts Centre
23 – Bristol, U.K. @ Thekla
25 – Leicester, U.K. @ The Cookie
26 – Glasglow, U.K. @ Mono
27 – Manchester, U.K. @ Now Wave
29 – Brighton, U.K. @ The Haunt
31 – London, U.K. @ Islington Assembly Hall

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