By Ren Gibson, Staff Writer
Artist: Lucy Dacus
Album: Forever is a Feeling
Favorite Tracks: Modigliani, For Keeps, Come Out, Bullseye (With Hozier), and Most Wanted Man
For Fans Of: Phoebe Bridgers, Japanese Breakfast, Rachel Chinouriri
Lucy Dacus makes a beautiful return to music with her fourth studio album, Forever Is A Feeling. Dacus has had a busy last few years: she’s been releasing music with the musical supergroup Boygenius, touring the world, winning Grammys, creating music videos with Yellowjackets star Jasmin Savoy Brown, and most importantly, falling in love. Forever is a Feeling celebrates love in Dacus’s life — both platonic and romantic — to deliver one of the most beautiful albums that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The album, down to the cover painted by artist Will St. John, is a love letter to the Romantic Era. The imagery from the album has Dacus surrounded by angels, in cathedrals, and in big, billowing gowns. The tracklist is littered with ballads with whimsical accompaniments; everything about it feels regal and intimate. Even select show dates that Lucy performed before the release of the album were in churches across the United States and Europe, serving as a preview to the music that was to follow.
The Music, A Big Deal
Compared to Dacus’s previous albums, the instrumentals on Forever is a Feeling lean slower in their tempos, resulting in some beautiful ballads similar to her songs like ‘Christine’ and ‘Please Stay’. The album would be incomplete without them, however. The production on them is something straight out of the Romantic era: orchestral backings, emotional expression, and a whimsy that matches Dacus’s overall theme of yearning for her lover in full.
Adding to the main orchestral focus of most of the songs, there’s some really beautiful acoustic tracks that shine amongst the track list, such as “Come Out." Not to mention, Dacus’s vocals are as beautifully charming as always, shining on tracks like “Bullseye” alongside Hozier. In juxtaposition to the ballads, there’s some amazing work that proves that the indie rock spirit still lives on in the background of the album. Both “Talk” and “Forever is a Feeling” feature some really spunky instrumentals that borders on experimental from lead producer Blake Mills. “Talk” brings a splash of classic rock to the album, and “Forever is a Feeling” mixes the aforementioned romantic stylings with a modern synth that makes you want to bust a move.
A Poet’s Dream
I’ve always argued that Lucy Dacus is one of the best lyrics of all time, and this album truly proves it. I’ve found so many moments while listening where I’ve either felt so joyously in love or stabbed in the heart upset. Dacus uses the album as a huge, unabashed proclamation of “I love you” to her partner (shoutout to her recently confirmed girlfriend, Julien Baker) that can only make you envious to love someone as much as she does. From pining to lust to forever love, she captures the beauty of what it’s like when you’re simply meant to love another human being. To sum it up with my lyric from “Most Wanted Man,” “If it's not God, it's Fate/If it's not Fate, it’s Chance/If it's my chance I'm gonna take it/Cause who gets the chance/Like the one that I have?”
Two of the most beautifully written songs on the album, in my opinion, are “Modigliani” and “Bullseye.” Each one explores a side of love that Lucy Dacus has experienced in her life, showing that Forever is a Feeling isn’t just romantic, but an overall appreciation of everything positive in Dacus’s life. “Modigliani” is about her friendship with fellow boygenius member Phoebe Bridgers, and made me cry when thinking about my own friendships with strong, independent women around me. Any song that reminds me of my best friends is sentimental to me, but man, is this album full of them.
The Future of Forever
Lucy Dacus has and always will be a special, once of a kind artist to me, and hopefully Forever is a Feeling brings the same bliss and happiness to anyone who listens to it for the first time as it did to me. To grow and experience true love is a beautiful thing, and I have never met an album that speaks to the experience so quietly as this one. Dacus’s solo work has always been something of a hidden gem, but this album exploded with her artistry and clever writing, even in the more upbeat tracks.
If you’re also in love with this album, pun very much intended, Lucy Dacus’s upcoming tour is rapidly approaching. She’ll be in Boston on the Forever is a Feeling Tour on April 20th and 21st later this month. The artist jasmine.4.t, whose first album was partially produced by Dacus herself, is joining the tour as a supporting act. It’s a “Big Deal” for me to see her, and I hope it is for you too!
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