Boygenius is an indie/alternative supergroup with three members, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. Each member makes their own solo music, (which I highly suggest you listen to). Their debut EP, ‘self-titled’ came out in 2018. It saw commercial and critical success, but ultimately led to a five-year hiatus until March of 2023 when they released their first album, ‘The Record’.
This album saw immediate success with followers of the band happy to have their ‘boys’ back, as fans call the members. ‘The record’ also gained popularity on TikTok, like so many songs before them. Boygenius launched their USA tour, playing their first location on April 12th in California with a variety of openers including Carly Rae Jepson, MUNA, and 100 Gecs.
On September 25th, at the end of their show in Boston, MA, Boygenius brought out the legendary singer/songwriter Hozier to sing their final song, ‘Salt in the Wound’ from their 2018 debut EP. At this same show, they announced their new EP, ‘The Rest’ which would be coming out Friday, Oct. 13.
‘The Rest’ is a soft indie and alternative EP that includes four new songs, ‘Black Hole’, ‘Afraid of Heights’, ‘Voyager’, and ‘Powers’ in that order. The EP is only about 12 minutes long but brings forth lots of emotion and power from the 3 boys.
The first song on the EP is called ‘Black Hole’. It is a piano-based song that focuses on weather and a rocky relationship. This song has a soft and uplifting melody but lyrics that feel almost uncertain. It is mainly sung by Baker and is inspired by a tweet. Baker states, “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!’” That article is incorporated into the song in the lyric, “Were being spat out by what we thought was just destroying’ everything for good.”
‘Black Hole’ has earned the rating 8.5/10. The lyrics are catchy and easy to learn and sing along to. It is a very good opener to an album but certainly does not beat some of the other songs on the EP.
‘Afraid of Heights’ is the second song. It is mainly sung by Dacus. It’s soft and has a guitar lead with a powerful chorus with the whole group singing together. ‘Afraid of Heights’ is a song with a story. A lyric that stands out is “I wanna live a vibrant life, but I wanna die a boring death”. It is a line that really encapsulates the whole song. Dacus says it best. At Boygenius’ Live in-store performance at Fingerprints on October 13th she states, “This one, I wrote a long time ago. It was one of the first potential songs for the record, but then, at the end of the first day, it didn’t really fit. But it’s about being friends with somebody who thinks that they’re radical but ultimately they’re just trying to be reckless and ruin their life. And [them] just being a scaredy-cat and feeling kinda guilty about that, but ultimately staying safe and enjoying themself.”
‘Afraid of Heights’ gets an 8.7/10 in my book. I’m a sucker for a song with a story, and this song does it well. You can interpret the meaning for yourself in a few different ways, so it also ends up pretty helpful for whatever tragic event is going on in your life. Dacus’ voice is stunning which wraps the whole song up with a pretty bow and makes it one of the best songs on the EP.
‘Voyager’ is the third song on ‘the rest’. Voyager is a sorrowful, slow, and melancholy song. The main singer is Bridgers, which you can really tell because ‘Voyager’ is the usual type of song for her to release on her own. This ends up being pretty close to the truth, because the song was originally sung solo in 2022, but was discouraged from being recorded. GENIUS states that the song is “named after the Voyager 1 spacecraft, and references its 1990 photo of Earth, ‘Pale Blue Dot’.” If you have listened to any of Bridger’s albums or songs, you will know that she references space and the moon a lot. This song, having a sweet melody, fits right in with the rest of her catalog.
‘Voyager’ is my personal favorite on the album. As a big fan of Phoebe Bridgers already, when I learned that this song was headed by her, I knew it would probably be my favorite. This song gets a 9.2/10.
‘Powers’ is the last song on the EP. It is the most upbeat song out of the four and is led by Baker. The song compares stereotypical superhero troupes to how Baker came about. She seems to be questioning why she is here and is she made for something more. About the first half of the song is lyrics, while the rest is a guitar and trumpet-based outro that definitely reminds me of the album ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ by Neutral Milk Hotel. It is a fitting end to this EP about questioning and doubting.
I give ‘Powers’ an 8.6/10. I love the outro. While it doesn’t necessarily fit in with the vibe of the first half, it gives the whole song an elevated feeling. I also enjoy that the end is sung by all the boys.
In summary, the rest get an 8.8/10 from me. It is a great EP. Is it boygenius’ best so far? No. Will I be adding it to my playlist? Yes, of course. Do I want them to come out with more right now? Yes, but do I know that I will have to wait? Also yes, unfortunately. With fans speculating that the title, ‘The Rest’ is foreshadowing to the end of the boy’s music career together, or even just another 5 year break, It makes me appreciate ‘The Rest’ even more than I already do. I implore you to take a listen to not just the rest, but all of boyugenius’ music. Who knows? It could open you up to a new supergroup and three new individual artists.
