Just seven months after boygenius’ triumphant return to the music scene with their successful album “the record,” the trio’s recent EP “the rest” provides a silent sequel that showcases the lyrical prowess of all three members. Each song features simple guitar chord progressions and lacks the amalgamation of instruments that many tracks on “the record” include. Rather, they maintain a stripped-down sound that emphasizes the trio’s standout vocal harmonies. If “the record” was a loud proclamation securing the boys’ place in indie-rock music, then “the rest” encapsulates their candid conversations in rare moments of stillness. As usual, boygenius explores the magnetizing concept of death and what keeps people alive, but this time, with an overarching setting of the darkness of outer space.
Like boygenius’ other projects, each song has a primary vocalist, typically indicative of the member who spearheaded the song’s writing process. As each member took on their lead vocal roles on “the rest,” they all sounded exhausted, as if the words they sang were vocalizations of spiraling thoughts that arise right before deep sleep. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, the band likened the process of polishing and recording “the rest” to their debut album “boygenius.” Both projects relied on intuition, a collaborative in-studio writing process, and quick recording time, allowing the trio’s natural chemistry to take center stage. On the other hand, the three artists note that cohesion was necessary for “the record,” implying careful deliberation that led to one month’s worth of recording sessions compared to the three-day recording timeline for “the rest.”
The EP begins with Julien Baker’s staple falsetto that sounds contained yet frail, exemplifying her vocal control. “Black Hole” sets the tone for the rest of the project as Baker describes an overwhelming darkness both on Earth and beyond. But, through observing her surroundings, she finds that the dark is punctured by scattered bits of light, both metaphorically and physically. At the end of the first verse, Baker sings: “[stars] were being spat out by what we thought / was just destroying everything for good,” speaking to the resilience that rises through a rut that feels endless. Without a chorus, the song speaks to moments that can not be recreated but rather move forward through experiences with darkness and light, just as life does. Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus join in harmony for the second verse, with Dacus taking the higher harmony, switching the typical vocal roles and further showcasing the trio’s chemistry.
Dacus shines as she takes the lead on the EP’s second track, “Afraid of Heights.” As a lover of Russian literature and a wide array of poetry, along with being a prominent figure on Goodreads, one of Dacus’ strengths is her deep connection to and understanding of the written word. This fact has been evident throughout Dacus’ solo and collaborative career, and her work on “the rest” proves to be no different. The message of Dacus’ lyrics is often simple in content but strikes such a universal chord of existentialism and mortality that claws at the heart, like when she proclaims, “I don’t want to live forever / but I don’t want to die tonight.” The track describes an interaction between two individuals — a risk-taker and someone risk-averse — both trying to prove something to the other but ultimately ending up with newfound empathy for each other. The interaction could also represent one’s inner turmoil when trying to make something noteworthy of an unpredictable life, as emphasized in one of the closing lines: “how we’re stuck in entropy.” As usual, the rest of the boys deliver fulfilling harmonies that complete the song’s wistful sound.
“Voyager” is Bridgers’ lullaby mourning a past relationship, but with a level of care that exemplifies the growth experienced throughout the voyage. Dacus and Baker’s humming undercurrent contributes to the sense of peace despite the loss described. Within the whole EP, “Voyager” best encapsulates the paradox of being alone in darkness while not quite feeling lonely. While the lyrics would suggest an immense sadness, like when Bridgers sings, “you thought I’d never leave and I let you believe you were right,” the tone of her voice suggests a strength that halts the darkness from overtaking the situation. When comparing “Voyager” to Bridgers’ solo work, the underlying sense of peace stands out, which is perhaps due to the friendships that she has forged with Dacus and Baker, who keep her afloat, paralleling the way that their vocal harmonies keep Bridger’s voice afloat in the song.
Baker’s guitar and vocals for the final song, “Powers,” were taken from the first play-through that she performed at the recording studio. Baker told Lowe that she was not expecting her exasperated sigh to remain in the final cut, but Bridgers and Dacus agree that her unfiltered emotion brought a necessary rawness to the track that was irreplicable. Baker returns to outer space for the EP’s final setting, coming to the crux of existentialism: “am I simply just another of the universe’s failed experiments? / either way, I’ve been wondering just how it is / that I’ve never heard the tale of how I got my powers.” Like with “Voyager” and “Afraid of Heights,” despite a flurry of upsetting thoughts, Baker manages to find peace in the entropy of the universe and its unanswered questions. The vagueness of the powers that Bakers refers to allows positive connotations to break through despite the melancholia of the surrounding lyrics. She also continues on the thread of mortality and feeling small in the vastness of life: “a roach on his way to the gutter.” Dacus and Bridgers appear on the track as Baker’s echo, reinforcing the idea that being alone and feeling lonely do not always have to go hand in hand. The final lines, “the force of our impact, the fission / the hum of our contact, the sound of collisions,” comment on the monumental power of connections no matter their end result.
Boygenius’ new EP “the rest” uses outer space as a metaphor for the magnetic darkness that one often encounters throughout life but is pierced with light from the stars. Similarly to the trio’s past work, their friendship is the heart of the project. When boiled down, it becomes clear that close connections like theirs help keep each other afloat, and that in itself is a superpower.
Image courtesy of live for live music
