It Feels Good To Be Known So Well

Today marks the one-year anniversary of ‘the record,’ the debut album by boygenius, an album that is essentially about loving your friends to death.

boygenius are super friends first and supergroup later. While ‘the record’ showcases the individual strengths of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus as three of the most important voices in indie music today, its true essence lies in its portrayal of friendship, love, and intimacy. In the way it honors and celebrates them.

It captures the essence of a group of best friends — all accomplished songwriters — coming together to create music, share moments of joy, understand each other, take care of one another, and maintain mutual respect. A ‘camaraderie’ that is documented in audio form, which is ultimately symbolized by its cover: a perfectly imperfect three-way high-five.

The album displays some of the best lyricsism I’ve come across in recent years, particularly the ones written by Lucy, who is probably the only contemporary lyricist, to surpass Taylor Swift.

Lines like “You can absolutely break my heart, that’s how I know that We’re In Love,” “It feels good to be known so well,” “I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself,” and “Always an angel never a God” are rare gems, albums like this are equally scarce, and groups like boygenius, with their momentum, only emerge once in every generation.

Their show at Gunnersbury Park, London last summer felt like one of the safest spaces I’ve ever been in — the one that felt like a summer festival as much as it was a feminist forum or an lgbt convention.

2023 was the year of boygenius. But it was my year too, and ‘the record’ has served as the soundtrack to most of the core memories I made with the people I care about so much over the past year, and will probably continue to be the scores for many more to come.