Despite that uncomfortability, Dacus certainly never lets up on the finished product. She delivers both songs full of the yearning she’s known for, recounting the times that she found herself crushing on her own bandmate, and not knowing what to do about it, and some of her happiest tunes yet as things finally fall into place for the duo. As life opens up new pathways for Dacus, so too do the instrumentals, branching out from her typically somber acoustics to include more upbeat tracks, danceable basslines and synths. The album title, Forever Is a Feeling, refers to both that sensation that she might have found “the one,” but also the knowledge that nothing is truly forever, and actively relishing in the moments that the lovebirds are able to share together. It’s those kinds of bittersweet, dichotomous feelings that have followed Dacus throughout her entire career. Here are some of her most poignant emotions.
The Most Romantic
The first single released from her appropriately-titled 2019 EP, 2019, Dacus’ cover of “La vie en rose” was a preview of just how romantic she could get on her forthcoming releases – even if the object of her desire was just out of her grasp. Still standing as one of her most affecting vocal performances, the track speeds up the tempo and injects the classic with more of an indie-rock kick. Meant to toast to Valentine’s Day, it stood with the other 2019 tracks as being a dedication to a holiday. In true Dacus fashion, the project also included a pop-punk cover of “Last Christmas” and an original for the Fourth of July criticizing American exceptionalism.
The Most Emo
We’re taking it back to Dacus’ 2018 sophomore album Historian for this one – still standing up as one of Dacus’ most-streamed and overwhelmingly saddest songs, “Night Shift,” a six-and-a-half-minute slow-burner that builds to an explosive finish, has often been named as an all-timer breakup song when such lists are compiled. From the opening lines that find Dacus having a “coughing fit” upon kissing somebody other than her former partner for the first time to the track’s story of strategically avoiding any possible contact by putting herself through a night shift job, our favourite line is actually one of the more hopeful ones: “In five years, I hope the songs feel like covers, dedicated to new lovers.” Fun fact – the music video, released five years later in 2023 because Dacus didn’t have the funds to create one at the time of release, was directed and edited by Jane Schoenbrun, who went on to craft the widely-acclaimed I Saw The TV Glow last year.
The Most Celebratory
Even if the category didn’t make it onto the primetime telecast, Dacus certainly delivered one of the more memorable acceptance speeches in recent Grammy memory. In Los Angeles to celebrate the success of the record – which picked up three wins and seven total nods, including an Album of the Year nomination – Dacus could be seen in a full-on sprint to the stage when the first victory (Best Rock Performance for “Not Strong Enough”) was announced. Inspiring her two bandmates to follow suit, Dacus bounded onto the stage, out of breath, to blurt out “Oh my God, I want to throw up,” Baker and Bridgers cracking up at her every word behind her. If this whole video isn’t an unabashed expression of emotion, we’re not sure what is.
The Most Defiant
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Dacus has always been outspoken about activist causes, which means that a former president – or, more likely, the interns that work for him – probably should have been a little more careful one summer’s day in 2023. Still oddly drawing quite a bit of anticipation year after year, Barack Obama’s biannual lists of books, songs and movies often feature quite a few of the year’s most buzzworthy names. When boygenius’ track “Not Strong Enough” turned up on his 2023 summer playlist, Dacus took Ethel Cain’s somewhat appreciative confusion at the anti-war anthem “American Teenager” being included the year prior a step further when succinctly replied to the tweet: “war criminal :(“ You can be certain that there won’t be any tracks from Forever Is A Feeling popping up this year.
The Most Nostalgic
The concept behind Dacus’ 2021 album Home Video was already pretty nostalgic – she mentioned that she wanted to “visualize the moment when you first reflect on your childhood, which I think can also be the moment that childhood is over,” and created music videos featuring old footage – but she took it one step further. To finally release a fan-favourite track, “Thumbs,” which had been appearing in her live sets for a couple years prior, she mailed it out to a couple select fans via a VHS tape. It would have been an extra special gift to receive, since Dacus often requested the deeply personal song about a friend’s distasteful father not to be recorded while she performed it – here’s to physical media!
The Most Liberated
Lucy Dacus’ songwriting has always been blisteringly honest and confessional, but her approach to writing about love has often been either from an agonizing distance, or shrouded in poetics and metaphor. One of the most novel things about Forever Is A Feeling, despite Dacus’ apprehension to put her relationship with another public figure on display, is the liberating frankness with which she sings about romance and sexuality, even dropping her typical avoidance of using specific pronouns for universality’s sake to sing lyrics like “you may not be an angel, but you are my girl.” The single “Ankles” – with a music video featuring Bottoms’ Havana Rose Liu – might be the most surprising to a longtime Dacus fan, where she relishes in the fantasies that have been playing out in her head for too long finally becoming reality. Dacus’ humour has always been an underrated part of her songwriting, though: our favourite set of lyrics might be on the track “Come Out,” where Dacus imagines herself as a crazed man with a megaphone standing on a street corner, preaching the gospel of just how fantastic her newfound romance is to the “toddlers and the scandalized moms.”
