- Geffen
- 2025
The new Lucy Dacus album cycle certainly hasn’t been the indie darling’s best. Forever Is A Feeling is the boygenius member’s debut on major label Geffen; a cliché title offers an unpleasant introduction, as does the cover artwork that many fans deemed AI-like despite an actual artist’s efforts. Dacus put out a call for “hot mascs” for the “Best Guess” video; when the video came out, fans were disappointed by the lack of diversity of the chosen “hot mascs.” So, now the question is: How's the music, though?
With her past records — 2016’s No Burden, 2018’s Historian, and 2021’s Home Video — Dacus somehow kept a streak of the opening tracks serving as the hits, with “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” “Night Shift,” and “Hot & Heavy” respectively. Forever Is A Feeling rebels against this pattern, instead beginning with a quick but sprawling orchestral prelude that spills into the warm, dejected ballad "Big Deal": “And we both know that it would never work/ You’ve got your girl, you’re gonna marry her/ And I’ll be watching in a pinstripe suit/ Sincerely happy for the both of you,” she sings. Its place as the second track feels questionable; it’s not particularly grabbing, but it is devastating.
Forever Is A Feeling suffers from the lack of a hook at the start of the record, and the momentum rarely picks up from there. The urgency and thrill of “Hot & Heavy” from Home Video can’t be found anywhere on Forever Is A Feeling, except maybe the penultimate "Most Wanted Man," a twangy burst of energy cleverly expressing pure admiration for her bandmate and romantic partner Julien Baker: "I still believe in God sometimes/ It always takes me by surprise/ To catch myself in the middle of praying/ But I thank God for you/ When I don’t know what else to do."
Otherwise, most of the tracks move at midtempo — “Ankles,” “Modigliani,” “Best Guess” — buoyed by repetitive guitars and inoffensive synths without achieving any sort of climax. “Talk” is an exception, cathartically building into a blaring whirlwind at the end, though a recurring whistle in the song makes for a strange choice, and the lyrics don’t strive for anything remarkable: “Why can’t we talk anymore?/ We used to talk for hours,” goes the unmoving refrain. The fluttering “Modigliani” features harmonies from Phoebe Bridgers; its lush arrangement sounds straight out of Punisher, yet it's not nearly as emotionally effective as anything from that album.
The lyrics rarely stray from the topic of yearning, yet the intensity of that famously fervent feeling is not there. Twitter users pointed out the corniness of the “Best Guess” lines, “Here is the church/ Here is the steeple/ You were looking for saints/ But you only found people.” And yeah, that’s pretty bad. Another moment that sadly falls flat is the title track, which pulsates with uninspired synths over which Dacus sings hollow adages: "This is bliss/ This is Hell/ Forever is a feeling/ And I know it well."
The ballads serve as highlights. “Even on opposite sides of the room/ I am orbiting you,” Dacus lulls sweetly on “Come Out,” an enchanting love song. “For Keeps” is a doomed serenade with a startling final line: “But I still miss you when I’m with you/ ’Cause I know we’re not playing for keeps.” "Lost Time" is a gut-punch of a finale, serving up the passion and specificity a lot of the LP lacked. "I hear you singing in the shower/ It’s a song I showed you years ago/ It’s nice to know you listen to it after all this time/ I put your clothes on the dresser with your 60 day chip/ And your broken gold chain, your unpaid parking ticket," Dacus sings, an impactful inventory, the distorted guitars picking up like strong winds around her. As for the Hozier collaboration "Bullseye," the most interesting part about it is that it's a Hozier collaboration.
The stakes don't feel high on Forever Is A Feeling. But do they have to be? Since Home Video, Dacus achieved major accomplishments with boygenius when the supergroup won their first Grammys and headlined New York's Madison Square Garden. Such success could kill an artist's ambition. In addition, the jump from her longtime indie label Matador to mainstream giant Geffen can lead to a product with less soul. Dacus' sagacity and heart peek through on Forever Is A Feeling, but it ultimately feels like her weakest yet. Forever may or may not be a feeling, but boredom definitely is.
Forever Is A Feeling is out 3/28 via Geffen Records.
