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In the past few decades, the music market has seen a growing appeal for music that embodies a certain suburban listlessness. We’ve seen many different iterations of this emotion, but the recent influence of harrowing acoustic artists like Nick Drake, Fiona Apple and Elliot Smith has become evident in the past decade. Nowadays, the confused and disaffected seek solace in the songwriting of people like Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.

Boygenius — the combination of the three emblematic indie singer-songwriters Bridgers, Baker and Dacus — is quickly being labeled a supergroup that exceeded everyone’s massive expectations with their debut album, bluntly titled “the record.” However, it doesn’t feel like a supergroup. Boygenius doesn’t feel like it came from commercial desire, like supergroups often have. Instead, the bond between the three artists allows “the record” to come off as an instant classic.

Despite independently receiving vast acclaim for their modern approaches to stories of love, mental health and loneliness, there’s an argument to be made that they suffice just as well — or even better — as a union.

They met in 2016 due to their parallel successes as sophisticated, young indie acts, gravitating to each other through total empathy as industry newcomers. All just starting to break through in their early twenties, their paths naturally seemed to line up. The formation of boygenius might have been written in the stars.

The trio’s debut release, 2018’s “boygenius” EP, gave fans a glimpse of the poignant, candid songwriting and expansive sound they could create when put together. But “the record” would have you convinced that they’ve been bandmates and best friends for their whole lives. While the EP was lauded for its quality as a debut, its biggest fault was its brevity. On “the record,” boygenius gives us a complete 42-minute album.

The album begins with an a cappella harmonic hymn, as the trinity sings “I want you to hear my story and bе a part of it.” It’s an introduction to the intimacy and transparency that “the record” entails, but it also feels like the way that boygenius has cooperated over the past few years. In various interviews during the leadup to “the record,” they have discussed going to therapy together and how their understanding of one another has helped them to better understand themselves.

One of the most amicable traits of “the record” is the immaculate balance of each artist’s stylistic preferences and the many moments where the three sing together, with wintry layers of harmony that create a sound more powerful than the sum of its parts.

Baker leads the trio into feisty, upbeat tracks, showing her affinity for garage rock and post-punk with lines like “Spray paint my initials on an ATM / I burn my cash and smash my old TV.” She takes the reins on “$20” and “Anti-Curse,” which reach brilliant climaxes, and “Satanist,” an out-right headbanger.

Bridgers brings gossamer ballads on “Letter To An Old Poet” and “Emily I’m Sorry,” but also floats mercurially, melding to the atmosphere of each song. Dacus shines in the quieter, sweeter moments, reeling the listener in with vague lines about relationships that resonate in some niche way — “You felt like an idiot adding an hour to the drive / But it gave us more time to embarrass ourselves.”

When they released the album’s first three singles and cover art in January, it wasn’t evident why the cover was a closeup image of one of each artists’ hands reaching up towards the sky. Upon listening to the album, it makes sense to see “the record” as an illustration of the trio’s unity, combining their distinct styles as they rise to the top by each other’s side. Each artist’s hand is positioned to expose the matching tooth tattoos on their wrists, an obvious symbol of their unanimity.

Exploring their virtuosic specialities while also creating a succinct debut album, “the record” is an incredible display of the emotional codependency that Bridgers, Baker and Dacus have formed in the years since they first crossed paths. They feel far closer to a band who have been playing together for their entire careers than a supergroup. “the record” both allows each artist to excel in their aptitudes and creates something special when they combine in breathtaking harmony.

Published on April 4, 2023 at 10:01 pm