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Oct 20, 2023 Web Exclusive By Marc Abbott

The trio of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus put their solo careers on the backburner for 2023, and set about quietly, ruthlessly making it the year of boygenius. But the rest—a collection of four songs released to neatly bookend this period of world dominance—comes across as sounding like that’s exactly what they deserve and need: a rest.

As supergroups go, you’d struggle to name another more significant in 21st century music (and no, before you ask, McBusted does not qualify). Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus have had the world at their feet from the moment their rightly hyped debut album, the record (of which this EP is billed as an expansion), finally saw the light of day in spring 2023. And for good reason. The world needs their affable, emotional, close harmony-driven brand of pop songs and balladry. The world needs a queer-identifying trio of the best of friends, hell-bent on bestowing as much comfort and joy upon each other as to their fans. What the record-buying public arguably doesn’t need is an EP that sounds a little rough around the edges, lasts for precisely 12 minutes, 4 seconds, and—if you’re a vinyl collector—costs $20. (“I know you have $20,” Bridgers screamed on the record’s opening track. Did she know something then that we didn’t?)

But wait, there are moments of brilliance on the rest. This is boygenius we’re talking about, after all. These do come mainly courtesy of Lucy Dacus, adding an astonishingly rich layer to shared vocals, and certainly due to “Afraid of Heights,” the song on which she takes the lead. Her writing—and this track—shines among this short collection of songs, two of which could very easily pass as demos. “Black Hole” gives the impression its building waves of guitar will eventually crash on the shore in a froth of noise, yet don’t. Tender, Bridgers-fronted “Voyager,” however, does evoke the intimate “bedroom songwriter” atmosphere of much of the artist’s Stranger In the Alps.

So, are we being treated to the rest? That is, all that remains of the trio’s music? Or does this release simply signal a rest… A hiatus? The wonder of boygenius is that it’s always been shrouded in mythology. To quote the Baker-led “Powers” on this EP, is there soon to be “no object in the supercollider?” For everyone’s sake, let’s hope this isn’t the last we hear from them. It wouldn’t be the way anyone wants to remember a supergroup of such super-significance. (www.xboygeniusx.com)

Author rating: 6/10