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Apr 14, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Jordan Rodericks

Yesterday, Lucy Dacus announced a new album, Home Video, and shared a self-directed video for a new song from it, “Hot & Heavy.” Last night she was the musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she performed the new single with her backing band from the stage of the Virginia Repertory Theatre, in her native Richmond. Dacus’ mother used to play piano for musicals at the theater, musicals Dacus would sometimes appear in as a child. The band performed with their backs to the theater and all apart from Dacus wore the blue hoodies from the “Hot & Heavy” video. Dacus was backed by her regular touring band: Jacob Blizard (guitar), Dominic Angelella (bass), Ricardo Lagomasino (drums), and Sarah Goldstone (keys, background vocals). Watch it below, followed by her upcoming tour dates.

Home Video is due out June 25 via Matador. It includes “Thumbs,” a new song she shared in March that was #1 on our Songs of the Week list.

Dacus’ last album, Historian, came out in 2018. The following year, she released the EP 2019.

Home Video was recorded at Trace Horse Studio in Nashville with the aid of Jacob Blizard, Collin Pastore, and Jake Finch. Shawn Everett mixed the album and Bob Ludwig mastered it. Two songs feature her boygenius bandmates Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers.

A press release says the new single “Hot & Heavy,” also the album opener, is about “Dacus’ feelings about rerooting in her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, following sudden acclaim.”

Dacus further explains: “I thought I was writing ‘Hot & Heavy’ about an old friend, but I realized along the way that it was just about me outgrowing past versions of myself. So much of life is submitting to change and saying goodbye even if you don’t want to. Now whenever I go to places that used to be significant to me, it feels like trespassing the past. I know that the teen version of me wouldn’t approve of me now, and that’s embarrassing and a little bit heartbreaking, even if I know intellectually that I like my life and who I am.”

Dacus directed the “Hot & Heavy” video with Marin Leong and it was also co-directed by Jordan Rodericks. It was filmed at the historic Byrd Theatre in the Carytown area of Richmond. It was opened in 1928 and is where Dacus saw movies during her adolescent years and is still an active theater that shows both old movies and current ones. It also features a Wurlitzer organ that rises out of the stage. The video features Dacus attending a screening of old childhood movies at the Byrd. “I knew I wanted to include some of the home video footage that my dad took of me while I was growing up,” Dacus explains. “I wanted to visualize the moment when you first reflect on your childhood, which I think can also be the moment that childhood is over. For me, I feel like there was a hard switch when I started releasing music, when my identity went from being a personal project to something publicly observed and reflected. I asked my family (shoutout to my grandma) and some of my closest friends to be extras because they’re the people that knew me before that switch. I may have dropped out of film school, but I still love making movies and had a really fun time directing this one.”

Tickets for Dacus’ tour go on sale this Friday, April 16, at 10 a.m. local time. Two Richmond shows are co-headlining dates with Julien Baker. Support on other dates include Bartees Strange, Shamir, and Bachelor, depending on the show.

Read our interview with Dacus and boygenius.

Read our 2018 interview with Dacus on Historian.

Read our 2016 Artist Survey interview with Lucy Dacus.

Lucy Dacus Tour Dates:

Fri. Sept. 10 - Richmond, VA @ The National (Julien Baker Headline/Lucy Support, + special guests)
Sat. Sept. 11 - Richmond, VA @ The National (Lucy Headline/Julien Baker Support, + special guests)
Mon. Sept. 13 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom %
Tue. Sept. 14 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West %
Wed. Sept. 15 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Fri. Sept. 17 - Dallas, TX @ Trees %
Sat. Sept. 18 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall- Downstairs %
Sun. Sept. 19 - Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn %
Mon. Sept. 20 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger %
Wed. Sept. 22 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole %
Fri. Sept. 24 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel %
Sat. Sept. 25 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory OC %
Mon. Sept. 27 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore %
Thu. Sept. 30 - Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre $
Fri. Oct. 1 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom $
Sat. Oct. 2 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre $
Tue. Oct. 5 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
Fri. Oct. 8 - Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theatre $
Sat. Oct. 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue $
Mon. Oct. 11 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre $
Tue. Oct. 12 - Columbus , OH @ Newport Music Hall $
Thu. Oct. 14 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House $
Fri. Oct. 15 - Montreal, QC @ L’Astral $
Sat. Oct. 16 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues $
Mon. Oct. 18 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground $
Wed. Oct. 20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
Fri. Oct. 22 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $
Mon. Oct. 25 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

% = w/ Bachelor
$ = w/ Bartees Strange
^ = w/ Shamir

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