Review: Lucy Dacus' new album reminds listeners that romance can be hopeful

Lucy Dacus’ discography truly has a song to fit every emotion — wonder, grief, admiration, resentment. Her projects are well-rounded and authentic, and for that reason, she will always have a spot as one of my top artists. 

With her latest release, she has introduced a new phase of her life to her listeners: hopelessly, overwhelmingly in love. 

On Friday, March 28, Dacus released her fourth studio album, "Forever Is a Feeling." The 13-track album is all but confirmed to be based on her relationship with fellow boygenius member Julien Baker, with whom Dacus officially confirmed her relationship in March. "Forever Is a Feeling" details the couple’s transition from friends to lovers to what Dacus suggests may be forever. The result is a project that feels hopeful, inspiring and unapologetically romantic. 

Three singles preceded the release of "Forever Is a Feeling:" “Ankles,” “Limerence” and “Best Guess,” all of which discuss the complexities of having feelings for or entering a relationship with a friend. 

Of the three, “Limerence,” the album’s fourth track, stands out to me most, featuring the thought-provoking, almost nauseating lyricism that made me fall in love with Dacus’ music years ago.

“If I stay busy, maybe I’ll forget how I feel and go on living life as I planned it,” she sings. “So bring on the parties, I wanna go dancing, my arm ‘round the waist of a friendly acquaintance, toeing the line of betraying your trust. Why do I feel alive when I’m behaving my worst?” 

Dacus doesn’t hold back, detailing the reality of living in limerence — unreciprocated infatuation and attachment to another person. By the sixth track, “Talk,” Dacus and the album’s subject have revealed and accepted their mutual feelings for each other. But, this new territory comes with its own anxieties. 

“I could not love you the same way two days in a row,” she sings. “Why can’t we talk anymore? We used to talk for hours.” 

On this track, Dacus confronts the awkwardness and discomfort that comes from introducing romantic feelings in a platonic friendship. She continues this conversation on the next track, “For Keeps,” where she expresses a feeling of loneliness even when she’s with her partner, anticipating the relationship’s inevitable end. 

Finally, on the album’s title track, Dacus realizes that her relationship may just last forever, after all. 

“I’m no good at faces or names, places or days, zip codes and timezones, but I remember everywhere we’ve ever been and when,” she sings. “I remember thinking you were pretty when we met.” 

Perhaps the most outwardly romantic song on "Forever Is a Feeling" is the album’s third single, “Best Guess,” which feels like a full-circle moment, acknowledging the trajectory of Dacus’ relationship from where it began to where it stands now. 

“You may not be an angel, but you are my girl,” she sings. “You are my pack a day, you are my favorite place, you were my best friend before you were my best guess at the future.” 

With these words, Dacus acknowledges that their relationship has not been perfect, but she has never craved perfection. She has found extraordinary love in the mundane, found her future in her past and present. 

The album’s love story concludes on its final track, and my favorite of them all, “Lost Time.” 

“I notice everything about you, I can’t help it,” Dacus sings. “It’s not a choice, it’s been this way since we met. 'Cause I love you, and every day that I knew and didn’t say is a crying shame, it’s a crime, a waste of space, lost time.” 

With this final notion, Dacus urges her listeners to live authentically, and in the context of her album it is clear that this call-to-action requires an acceptance of the discomfort and anxiety that comes with it. "Forever Is a Feeling" is an extension of the unapologetic authenticity with which Dacus has always written, and which makes her music so special.

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