Three of my favorite new(ish) voices are from Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. What a delight to find that the trio was just that – a trio – on the 2018 EP, Boygenius. I discovered this song a few months back, and then somehow forgot about it – but I rediscovered it this yesterday morning, and have been listening to it, on-and-off, ever since. I love it when a song does that. Comes to me, or comes back around to me, and obsesses my music-loving soul.
“Salt In The Wound” by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus
from the EP, Boygenius (2018)
Song of the Day
“You put salt in the wound,
and a kiss on my cheek.
You butter me up,
and you sit down to eat.
You add insult to injury.
You say you believe in me.
But, you haven’t decided,
about taking or leaving me.”
Here’s a little bit about why the Boygenius EP came around, from Pitchfork:
“In a delightful twist on this binary categorizing, Dacus, Baker, and folk-rock songwriter Phoebe Bridgers announced in August that they’d made an EP under the name boygenius, a nod to the way we can carelessly lean on gender to telegraph meaning. A boy can be an individual genius, while women in indie rock are all the same. In advance of a tour they had coming up together, the trio of indie titans decided to record a 7″ as a supergroup, and the result briefly winks at, then pulverizes the reductive labels we heap onto women musicians. With compatible interests but varied styles, the self-titled six-song EP is a blueprint for how to do a supergroup right: elevate each other’s individual talents, seamlessly blend your distinct-but-simpatico genres, and sing like hell together in lung-shattering harmony.”
For me, the EP, and especially “Salt In The Wound” (the track I can’t get enough of) is this gorgeous match-up of shoegaze, Indie, and alt-country – a trio of sound and genre that I adore. Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus’ voices sound so beautiful together. Those harmonies slay me. I wish I could see them sing together live.
“Salt In The Wound” (live at WFUV) by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus
So far February feels hopeful. It feels full of possibility and change, and new challenges. I’m trying to be brave. I’m trying to be daring. I’m trying to have grace and patience and love – towards myself, and those around me.
My first big brave thing is submitting some of my writing. I’ve submitted some poetry and a short story over the last few days. This is terrifying to me, but I am trying to push through my fears. If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. I’ve learned that in working out, and it translates into so many other aspects of life, too.
I’ll see what happens. And, I’ll see what my next brave move is.
