Boygenuis’ new EP (extended play), “the rest,” was announced on Sept. 26 via Instagram, and released less than one month later, on Oct. 13. The EP includes four songs of varying length. Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers work together on all four, keeping it soft, genuine and gut-wrenching. The gentle themes of the new EP are a different vibe compared to their first and only studio album, “the record,” which included more upbeat rock songs. Even with changes in tempo, all of the boygenius lyrics are beautifully written, and tug at listeners’ heartstrings.
One of the most beautiful parts of “the rest” is the way the four songs fit together. The three artists were intentional in their placement, and the songs fit neatly together in the order they were released, blending from one to the next harmoniously both in tone and lyricism. On “the record,” listeners can easily discern which artist is singing and when the other two join in, but on the EP, it’s much less distinguishable and takes away the distraction of the change in voices.
“I think I’m better at capturing feelings,” Bridgers said in a 2020 interview with Stereogum. Her lyrics showcase this. Every lyric contributes to the song in some way, and no words are wasted in “the rest.”
All of the new songs feature various references to the artists past songs. Bridgers finally completes her year-long journey to the moon in the penultimate song “Voyager.”
“Every small step I took was so easy,” sings Bridgers.
She references the moon again when she sings, “you took it from me but I would have given it to you,” a reference to “Moon Song,” when she sings “I would have given you the moon.” Baker makes a connection to the past in “Powers,” where a part of the song shares the same melody, and key as “Heatwave,” a song she released in 2021.
While all of the lyrics are clearly well thought through by boygenius, most of the songs on the EP could seem pretty boring or monotone to listeners who don’t relate to the lyrics. Their music can seem boring if you’re only listening for the musicality, not that it’s lacking. However, their songs are designed to be a masterpiece of different tempos and melodies combined with genius lyrics. Music fans that concentrate on only one of these elements won’t be able to appreciate the full effect of any of their music.
The last song on the EP, “Powers,” concludes with a 90-second outro featuring horns and no voices. It’s a fitting way to end the EP.
“These songs don’t belong on “the record,” to me,” Bridgers noted in a recent interview with Apple Music. “‘the record,’ couldn’t be another way and I think these four… they fit so well together.”
Boygenius feels happy in ending their tour with “the rest,” and the horns just bring it all together for a breathtaking finale. Sadly, Boygenius fans have been speculating that this could be the end of the band, at least for a little while. Baker, Dacus and Bridgers each had successful careers on their own before they came together and made their first EP “boygenius” in 2018, and they didn’t release any other music together for four long years. Many now worry that there could be another lengthy gap before more music is released, if more music is even coming. The three of them have yet to make a public comment on this.
Some lyrical highlights:
“We’re being spat out by what we thought was just destroying everything for good” (Black Hole)
“Like a sugar cube in a teacup” (Afraid of Heights)
“Oh it hurts to hope the future will be better than before” (Afraid of Heights)
“You thought I’d never leave / and I let you believe you were right” (Voyager)
“I used to believe nobody could love you like I do / And I’m starting to think that it might be impossible not to” (Voyager)
“Or am I simply another of the Universe’s failed experiments” (Powers)
“Just light at the end of the tunnel and whatever gets scattered” (Powers)
