boygenius is a band consisting of three talented artists: Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and
Lucy Dacus. Their music is typical of the indie or folk-rock genres, and it’s often described by
its fans as ‘sad girl music’. For all of us sad girl music genre lovers, the announcement of this
EP was highly exciting. After the masterpiece that was ‘the record’, this EP had a lot of high
expectations to live up to. Especially, as it only consists of four songs. However, I do
personally believe ‘the rest’ lives up to the sad girl hype. It feels very intimate, and captures
a lot of emotions and feelings we all experience, but commonly fail to discuss or speak
of them.
Track 1 – ‘Black Hole’
On this track, Baker begins with a soft and fragile tone in verse one, and in verse two Dacus
and Bridgers take over gracefully. Verse two is everything. It has a slightly different feeling
to the beginning of the song, following the instrumental. It feels slightly messier, despite the
lyrics having a pattern. The final lyrics in the song “My thoughts, all noise, fake smile, decoys
/ Sometimes, I need to hear your voice” stand out to me. It describes the grounding I need,
when everything in my life feels out of control, and out of order. I act in an out-of-
body positive manner, when I am with others, until I speak to my partner, and suddenly that
comfort brings me back together as a whole.
Track 2 – ‘Afraid of Heights’
This is the track where Dacus takes the lead. I believe this song resonates with many of us.
The lyrics “I wanna live a vibrant life / But I wanna die a boring death” make me feel heard. I
want to travel and try new things. I want to live, but I don’t want to take too many risks,
and I want security. The song focuses on two individuals, one who has a lot of fear, and one
who fears nothing, and the lyric sort of plays on the desire to have both. Following this,
Dacus states “Not everyone gets the chance to live / A life that isn’t dangerous”, reflecting
on her privilege to not have to live in fear all the time, and the peacefulness and
contentment that comes from security.
Track 3 – ‘Voyager’
This is the track in which Bridgers leads. It refers to a dying relationship with many issues.
I think the change in lyrics is what highlights the tragedy of this relationship. Bridgers
sings “But I used to believe no one could love you like I do (Mmm) / And I’m startin’ to think
that it might be impossible not to (Mmm)”, which highlights the love she felt for this person,
but then hints to the realisation of falling out of love. Then later in the song she sings “You
thought I’d never leave and I let you believe you were right”, which illustrates the downturn
in the relationship, and how they were holding something back from this partner. It is a
melancholic and echoey track, that deserves a listen on a down day.
Track 4 – ‘Powers’
This is my personal favourite from the EP. Julien Baker takes the lead on this song. I am in
love with her voice, because it feels so delicate and raw. Yet, Baker is describing their so-
called villain origin story, using classic comic book tropes and descriptions. The lyrics: “The
tail of a comet burned up in an instant, the destruction of matter / There’s no object to be
seen in the supercollider / Just a light in the tunnel and whatever gets scattered” are just so
beautiful to me. Because I feel we all experience that feeling of falling apart, of destruction in
life, and being pulled into different parts, and not feeling fully there.
Baker’s description of disarray and change in oneself, is so visual in this piece, it deserves a
listen.
If you haven’t already put this album on. It is perfectly suited for the dreary days in autumn,
or the long darkness we face during winter. This EP made me buy a t-shirt from their
website. I think that says a lot. I became a fan after the release of ‘the record’, but ‘the rest’
solidified my love for boygenius. Play into your ‘sad girl’ desires and listen to this.
I give it 5 stars.
