Historian turned musician
22-year-old Virginia native, Lucy Dacus, makes it known that her sophomore album, Historian, isn’t so much a breakup album as it is a coming to terms with loss and hope. Her 2016 debut album, No Burden, was a statement piece for young Dacus. She explored her growing musical talent and proved she was one of the new indie-rock artists to watch out for. With Historian, Dacus goes deep into her open acknowledgment of being adopted and the passing of her paternal grandmother.
Her first album got us acquainted with her masterful guitar skills — which proved to be a breath of fresh air in a male-dominated genre of music — and her thoughtful lyrical writing. Her second album combines the two and climaxes into a beautiful, real album.
The ten-track album includes the lead track “Night Shift,” dedicated to the loss of what could have been. Her subtle, warm voice comes to a halt when the first lyrics uttered are, “The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit / I had a coughing fit.” This TMI moment gets the listener to muster a slight “huh..” under their breath. Every person has or will go through heartbreak and Dacus eases the pain by reminding us that love is like skipping through a minefield. “Pillar of Truth” is an homage to her late grandmother, and in an interview with NPR, Dacus explains how the rushing of family members and friends to her grandmother’s bedside during her final days has deeply affected her. She takes her depth of sorrow and lays it out in front of her with melodic guitar riffs and somber vocals.
Dacus has a completely organic style of writing music that comes straight from the stitching of her soul. This impeccable trait is what so many listens are falling in love with when it comes to the somewhat newcomer to the field of indie-rock. Dacus has proven she is not one to sleep on and to keep an eye on her as she rises gracefully to the top.
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