Earnest friendship and boygenius
"Who would I be without you, without them?"
The big news of the week is that boygenius released their debut album the record this past Friday. This marks a reunion for the supergroup, comprised of indie stars Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, who last released music together in 2018 for their self-titled EP.
All three have released solo albums since then, with Bridgers in particular rising to celebrity status with her 2020 album Punisher.1 Each member of boygenius is a renowned individual musician and certainly did not need to release this album to achieve commercial success, which is part of what makes their reunion so special: they are making music together because they love to create together!
The album is ultimately a love letter to friendship. On “We’re In Love,” Dacus sings to her bandmates “You could absolutely break my heart / That's how I know that we're in love.” This acknowledgment of the power and vulnerability of platonic love runs through the core of the band itself.
As Elif Batuman writes in her novel Either/Or, “Real intimacy is a place where there are no mistakes, at least not in the sense you feel. You don't just blow everything with one wrong move. A friendship is a space where you're supported and free to make mistakes.” This sentiment is echoed in the line “Will you still love me if it turns out I'm insane? / I know what you'll say, but it helps to hear you say it anyway,” demonstrating the comfort of true friendship. Such parallels make sense as Batuman and her books are beloved by boygenius, with Batuman even writing their artist bio for this album.2
Friendship has been very much on my mind because, as my devoted fans know, I recently upended my life to move to London. I have a lot of wonderful friends, so it has been hard for me to willingly separate myself from them to such an extent. Thankfully, we live in the digital age and I can contact everyone timezone-willing, but the relationships are still undeniably altered.
Thus, I have been forced to reconcile myself with the intimidating idea of making friends in closer proximity. The vulnerability required for this is nauseating and potentially painful, but music like the record provides an important reminder of the immense beauty and love that can stem from laying your heart out in the open.
Anyway, the record is very good and you all should listen to it. Apologies for the delay in writing, I have been in Paris because I am extremely fancy. xoxo
Fun fact: this was my breakup album twice. Highly recommend.
I can only find it on the German website lol.