Lucy Dacus makes songs like she makes mixtapes: based on vibes, holidays, and whatever Bruce Springsteen is doing. “His birthday is a holiday in the Dacus household,” she laughs, explaining the logic behind her 2019 EP—a collection of songs, both covers and originals, released throughout the year like musical greeting cards. There’s a Springsteen cover for his birthday, an original for Taurus season, and maybe an emotional PSA or two disguised as a ballad.
But don’t call it a concept album. “They’re not really leftovers,” she says. “They just didn’t belong to an album. They’re self-contained… like little time capsules.” And if that sounds suspiciously sentimental, don’t worry—Dacus is still allergic to anything resembling musical self-seriousness. “I feel zero stress about these songs coming out,” she says. “Nobody was asking for it. But here it is.”
One of those covers, “La Vie en Rose,” might be the boldest. “I didn’t cover it to improve upon it—I just love it. But I get it, some people probably think it’s sacrilege,” she shrugs. “Whatever. Go listen to the original too.”
If Historian was her gut-punch album and Boygenius her group therapy breakthrough, then 2019 is her impromptu living room show. “Covers are a celebration,” she says. “You only do a cover if you like the song.”
When asked about her own originals on the EP, she lights up. One is about being a Taurus. Another is about Mother’s Day. Astrology, she insists, is not real but “I believe in it.” It’s less a belief system than an icebreaker. “I like anything that lets people talk about themselves deeply, quickly,” she says. “We don’t always have time to really get to know someone, especially on tour.”
Speaking of touring, Historian wasn’t the only thing that kept her busy in 2018. The Boygenius record—her three-headed collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker—set the indie world ablaze. “We saved each other’s ideas from the trash can,” she says. “That experience made all our confidence go up.” She still trades demos with Bridgers and Baker regularly. “We’re all mothers to the songs,” she says. “Equally.”
“Bite the Hand,” the standout Boygenius track, came from that dynamic. “It’s about people asking too much of you,” she explains. “Not just fans—though that happens. People grabbing your lower back, kissing you on the cheek without asking. I still feel guilty when I don’t engage. But sometimes it’s too much.” Her tone doesn’t rise, but her words hit like a sledgehammer wrapped in a friendship bracelet.
As for the Phoebe Bridgers drama—Dacus doesn’t name Ryan Adams directly, but she doesn’t need to. “She’s relieved the story’s out,” Dacus says. “She’s brave. It’s going to save a lot of people.”
New music is already brewing. She started demoing her next record “yesterday,” and the songs, she says, are “freaking me out.” The new material is about girlhood, family, friendship—“learning what the world is and what you have to unlearn.” It’s raw and embryonic, but already heavy with feeling. And no, it’s not arriving anytime soon. “It’ll probably be a while. But it’ll come out,” she promises.
But for now, Lucy Dacus is just trying to give people songs for their own little moments—Taurus season, your mom’s birthday, Bruce Springsteen’s whatever. They don’t have to save your life. But they might make you feel like you’re not alone. And that’s more than enough.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below!
