Lucy Dacus - Forever Is a Feeling (2025)

Arriving at the same time as boygenius bandmate and romantic partner Julien Baker's new record, Lucy Dacus' fourth album and major-label debut is bound to be heavily parsed for clues about their relationship. While Baker's latest—a country-ish collab with singer-songwriter Torres—mostly plays it cool, Dacus gives curious fans what they want. As a songwriter, she has always specialized in specifics and fine details, and songs like "Lost Time" spare none. "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," she sings on the swelling bridge. "I put your clothes on the dresser with your 60 day chip/ And your broken gold chain, your unpaid parking ticket." And "Most Wanted Man" delivers Baker herself for a spotlight cameo as the lyrics spin a tale of falling in love in fancy hotel rooms and restaurants. ("I mean, 'most wanted man in West Tennessee.' Who's that if not Julien Baker?" Dacus has said.) A jangling, Paisley Underground swirl, it's explosively feel-good with Big Star-style guitar. "I'm surprised you're the one who said it first," Dacus admits on "Big Deal," a plush cloud of bliss shot through with early-days jitters. Indeed, Forever Is a Feeling is not just love-is-blind happiness. "Talk," redolent with '90s indie-rock cues like hushed vocals and booming bass drum, probes the fear of lost connection ("Do I make you nervous"—then Dacus draws in her breath—"or bored?"). "Modigliani" is about missing boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers, sounds like a Bridgers song, and even features her light, sweetly supportive harmonies. Buoyant with shaker and harp, "Come Out" catalogs professional boredom via some of Dacus' most evocative and Joni Mitchell-level lyrics: "I missed your call because I was in a board room full of old men guessing what the kids are getting into/ There was a cardboard cutout of a cowboy in the corner, pointing his gun in my face." "For Keeps" is a tender country-folk ballad, just Dacus and guitar, that's over too quickly. "Ankles" and "Best Guess" evoke Cranberries-style dreaminess. And duet "Bullseye," a soft-shoe shuffle, finds Hozier reining in his full gale-force power to let Dacus's light touch shine.

TRACKLIST

1. Lucy Dacus - Calliope Prelude
2. Lucy Dacus - Big Deal
3. Lucy Dacus - Ankles
4. Lucy Dacus - Limerence
5. Lucy Dacus - Modigliani
6. Lucy Dacus - Talk
7. Lucy Dacus - For Keeps
8. Lucy Dacus - Forever Is A Feeling
9. Lucy Dacus - Come Out
10. Lucy Dacus - Best Guess
11. Hozier;Lucy Dacus - Bullseye
12. Lucy Dacus - Most Wanted Man
13. Lucy Dacus - Lost Time