It’s been three years since Lucy Dacus’ last full-length, Historian, arrived with a wailing guitar and an entire album’s worth of explosive codas. Since then, she’s released a handful of singles and an EP with her supergroup boygenius (alongside Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers), but after teasing new music last month with the long-awaited recorded version of live favorite “Thumbs,” it’s finally time for a new record. (Past time, in our opinion, but we’re impatient.)
Dacus announced she’ll be releasing Home Video, a new album on Matador Records, set to come out June 25. The record is reportedly about looking back on coming-of-age transitions in her life—“that specific moment in time growing up when where emotions and relationships start becoming more complex.” Additionally, she’s unveiled the first single, “Hot And Heavy,” and accompanying video, to whet appetites for the forthcoming long player. Musically, the track suggests she may have imbibed some of the spirit of Bruce Springsteen when she covered “Dancer In The Dark” awhile back, as it adopts a few of the Boss’ songwriting habits, to excellent ends. Still, it’s recognizably Dacus, with a quiet, spare opening that leads ineluctably to a steady build, before eventually erupting into blissfully cathartic release, a fantastic track that portends great things from Home Video.
As if that weren’t enough, let’s not forget there’s live-music light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and Dacus is just as eager as the rest of us for it to start, announcing a slew of fall tour dates for September and October—even bringing along A.V. Club favorites like Bartees Strange, Bachelor, and Shamir as support.
Home Video comes out June 25 on Matador Records.
