Before the members of indie rock band boygenius were chart toppers, they were in a book club. Exchanging novel recommendations over email soon became impassioned sessions of lyrical analysis and musical experimentation. Even since those early days, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker recognized their connection as one the music industry had never seen before. During an interview in celebration of the release of boygenius’ short film, Bridgers confessed, “From the day we were in a room together, we were in a band.” I wish my own book clubs had proved as fruitful.
Leaning into supernatural themes, boygenius released their second EP, “the rest,” on Friday, October 13. Their latest work worked to tide their fans over in the four weeks between their performances at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl.
Their first album, equally a fan of lowercase letters and literal terms, “the record,” has been nominated for six Grammy Awards. For Record of the Year, they sit beside the likes of Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Ray.
Many fans anticipated that the trio would release a deluxe version of “the record,” but the announcement of this additional EP instead created an online stir all the same. Made up of four songs, “the rest” measures out to be a little over 12 minutes, ideal for a very emotional dog walk. “These songs don’t belong on “the record” to me…but they make so much sense together,” Bridgers clarified in an interview with Apple.
For “Black Hole,” the first track on the EP, Baker took inspiration from a recent headline describing a black hole birthing stars on its journey throughout the galaxy rather than destroying them. This modern commentary is exactly what saves the tune from falling into uncharacteristic mediocrity. The existentialism of “Black Hole’s” subject material serves as a durable introduction to this thought-provoking collection, although the sudden changes in pitch that litter its first verse read as much more of a disorienting accident than a purposeful stylistic choice.
More so here than in any of their other works, structure serves boygenius well. While “the rest’s” opening track leaves almost the entirety of its roundabout lyrics up to interpretation, the following two greatly benefit from a heightened sense of storytelling. For one, “Afraid of Heights” paints a commendably vivid picture of Dacus’ expansive poetic skill set while exemplifying the trio’s powerful vocal chemistry. Once again, Dacus, Bridgers and Baker bring out the very best in each other. A true ballad, “Voyager” goes on to define “the rest” as an unflinching look into everything that keeps you up at night while detailing heartbreak and disillusionment within a vicious cycle of abuse. Fans of Bridgers’ solo music are able to appreciate “Voyager’s” symbolic lunar references to her previous record’s “Moon Song.”
“Powers” imagines Baker as something of a comic book superhero and uses this fictional parallel as a springboard to speculate on her actual life’s purpose. Its ultra specificity reminds me a great deal of Baker’s individual albums, a thoughtful blend of her existential tone throughout “Sprained Ankle” and the rousing production of “Little Oblivions.”
Boygenius leads their listeners out of “the rest” with all the instrumentals of a funeral procession. The end of this EP sounds like an abstract loss, like mourning something you never had in the first place. And still, I remain captivated. There is so much artistic-dare I say-genius to be dissected here, both within the lines and between them. This mystery is exactly what continues to breathe life into “the rest,” listen after listen. As the members of boygenius prepare for an indefinite hiatus after touring, “the rest” acts as a reminder that this supergroup is far from finished.
