By TRAVIS FOLEY
The indie-rock supergroup Boygenius, consisting of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, released their new extended play (EP) titled “The Rest” on Oct. 13. “The Rest” consists of four songs that were presumably considered for the group’s debut album, “The Record,” but ultimately didn’t make it onto the final tracklist.
Rather than having each song make its debut with the release of the EP itself, Boygenius instead chose to play the songs of “The Rest” at numerous concerts prior to their official streaming release.
In comparison to “The Record,” “The Rest” takes a more stripped-back approach to the production of the tracks and allows for the vocals and songwriting of the band members to shine. This fact most likely contributes to why the songs on “The Rest” were left off of the band’s debut album. The tracks simply took a stylistic choice that diverged too much from what else was seen on the album.
This however did not stop fans of Boygenius from liking the new release. Brooke Rodriguez, a junior at Redlands East Valley High School, said, “It was really good. The songs were really sad which I enjoyed.”
Georgia Clark, a senior at Citrus Valley High School, said, “I think [“The Rest”] is a really good tie over from [“The Record”]… I like that it’s short and sweet.”
Opening The Rest is “Black Hole,” a track that diverts from the typical verse/chorus structure of a song and instead opts to be a simple two verses.
Baker, who wrote the majority of the song, said, “When we were recording, Lucy showed me a tweet that was a headline that was like, ‘Black Hole Creating Stars,’ instead of just sucking them up and destroying them. And everybody on the internet was like, ‘Can’t wait to see how many people put this in a poem!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna be one!’”
The article Baker brings up is likely in reference to “Hubble Sees Possible Runaway Black Hole Creating a Trail of Stars.” In “Black Hole,” Baker utilizes the phenomenon displayed in the article to convey themes of beauty in chaos.
Verse one, sung by Baker, perfectly illustrates this idea with the lyrics, “You can see the stars, the ones / The headlines said this morning / We’re bein’ spat out by what we thought / Was just destroyin’ everything for good.”
Verse two, sung by Dacus and Bridgers, explores the similar idea of seeing the good in something or someone bad. To convey this theme, they sing out contrasting images such as “Bad boy, big fight, you’re a good guy,” and “It’s out of your hands, but have a safe flight.”
“Afraid of Heights” is the second track of the EP, and sees Dacus taking a lead on vocals. According to Dacus, “[the song] was one of the first potential songs for ‘The Record,’” but ultimately “didn’t really fit.”
Dacus also speaks to the meaning of the song, saying, “It’s about being friends with someone who thinks they’re radical but ultimately they’re just trying to be reckless and ruin their life.”
The severity of her muse’s thrill-seeking is illustrated through the lyrics, “There’s been a run of fires downtown …/… I know you’d want me to be proud / That you took a rich man’s dream / And brought it with you on your way down,” which suggests a willingness to risk their own life for the adrenaline rush of their endeavors.
Much to Dacus’ dismay, her muse attempts to force her into joining their thrill-seeking, something that proves to be a point of tension in their relationship as Dacus sings lyrics like, “You called me a coward” and “I know I was a disappointment.”
The song’s final lyrics explore the reasoning behind her muse’s thrill-seeking, with Dacus singing, “You called me a crybaby / But you’re the one who got teary / Tellin’ me what you believe / How we’re stuck in entropy.”
These lyrics ultimately convey how the muse of the song believes the world is slowly descending into chaos, and that their thrill-seeking is simply a product of their fear for what the future holds.
Bridgers takes the lead on “The Rest’s” third track, “Voyager.” Unlike the other songs on the EP, “Voyager” debuted in 2022 at one of Bridgers’ solo concerts, though the song avoided being circulated on the internet due to Bridgers asking fans not to record as she plays it. Fans remained oblivious as to what the song entailed until it was played at a Boygenius concert on Sept. 25, 2023, thereby revealing it as part of “The Rest’s” tracklist in a similar manner to the EP’s other songs.
Lyrically, the song explores a chaotic relationship and the feelings of loss and isolation that come with its end.
Bridgers conveys this chaos through lyrics like, “There are days spent tangled up together …/… Then there are nights you say you don’t remember / When you stepped on the gas and you asked if / I’m ready to die.”
Upon ending the relationship with her partner, Bridgers sings, “Walkin’ alone in the city / Makes me feel like a man on the moon,” as a way to convey the loneliness and isolation she feels without them. “Every small step I took was so easy,” she sings next, illustrating how, despite her feelings of loneliness, she feels as though a weight has been lifted off of her in the wake of the breakup.
The lyrics that follow this, “But I never imagined a dot quite as pale or as blue,” are in reference to the famous “Pale Blue Dot” photo, an image of Earth taken by the Voyager One space probe in 1990, the same probe Bridgers named the song after. The lyrics also take inspiration from Carl Sagan’s speech of the same title, which seeks to highlight the importance of love in the world rather than hate.
Within the context of the song, the “dot” is representative of Bridgers’ love, though the emphasis on it being “pale” and “blue” suggests that her love has been soured in some way. With this, when Bridgers next sings, “You took it from me, but I would’ve given it to you,” she expresses that if her partner hadn’t selfishly taken her love from her, she would’ve happily given it to them instead.
On Bridgers’ sophomore album,”Punisher,” the track “Moon Song” also uses a planetary body to symbolize her love. The lyrics, “And if I could I would give you the moon / I would give you the moon,” seem to directly parallel those seen in “Voyager.”
The EP is closed with a Baker-led song titled “Powers.”
Baker spoke about “Powers” saying, “The song is kinda about how nobody tells you how you get to be where you are, you just show up in life. You’re just thrust into existence and everybody’s like, ‘That’s how it is…’ You don’t know how you got to this position… You don’t know how you got this advantage that you have either, you just are and you’re expected to just deal with it without questioning the origin of why.”
In the song, Baker utilizes the titular metaphor of having powers to represent the point she is currently at in her life. She then uses the idea of an “origin story” to question how she got to this point.
To convey this message, Baker roots her lyrics in comic book tropes, singing things like, “How did it start? Did I fall into a nuclear reactor? / Crawl out with acid skin or somethin’ worse / A hostile alien ambassador? / Or am I simply another of the universe’s failed experiments?”
This idea of being a “hostile alien ambassador” or being “another of the universe’s failed experiments” also suggests internal struggles with self-perception and self-worth.
Despite “The Rest” consisting of previously scrapped songs, each and every track proves to be spectacular in its own right. Fans in particular viewed “Afraid of Heights” and “Voyager” as highlights in not just the EP, but Boygenius’ discography as a whole. In all, the EP is warmly welcomed into the band’s catalog of music, and fans eagerly await their next project.
“The Rest” can be found on Spotify, Apple Music and any other digital music service.
Featured image: A two-image collage displays the cover of Boygenius’ latest album, “The Rest,” next to their debut album, “The Record.” “The Rest” consists of four songs that were presumably considered for the group’s debut album, “The Record,” but ultimately didn’t make it onto the final tracklist. (TRAVIS FOLEY/ Ethic News image)
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