Lucy Dacus reveals a selection of her favourite songs: “It’s just very beautiful”
Lucy Dacus was born to be a musician. After releasing her debut EP, Girls Back Home, at the age of 17, she knew she could strive to be even better and worked hard to release something she would forever be proud of. In 2016, her hard work paid off with the release of No Burden, owing to part of the success of her studious efforts and consistent dedication to honing her craft.
Despite enjoying many in the rock space, Dacus built a career on refining her singer-songwriter abilities, delivering intimate and heartfelt songs about love, loss, heartbreak, and self-destruction. Her abruptness also factored into her broader appeal, allowing audiences to resonate often from the first line alone before being taken on a more dynamic journey into the flow of Dacus’ world.
Take ‘Night Shift’, for instance; it’s difficult to ignore the subtle cynical musings peppered throughout, starting with the first line, “The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit, I had a coughing fit,” to others like, “Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth? Call you a bitch and leave? Why did I come here? To sit and watch you stare at your feet?”
Dacus proudly sits at the intersection between then and now, paying homage to the many outstanding singer-songwriters who came before while establishing new ground for others to play with. Her position in the indie-rock sphere and interest in an array of genre-blending and boundary-pushing artists make her one of the more dynamic and interesting figures out there, adding a certain unpredictability to her craft that keeps you coming back for more.
Perhaps this can be traced back to her endearment to originators and new artists, qualifying her as someone who is more than adept at bridging the gap between the two worlds while hinting at where the industry could be headed. Some of her influences began in her college years, however, proving that she has always been keyed into the creativity of those around her and how it mirrors her own aspirations.
Discussing McKinley Dixon’s Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?, she told Bandcamp about how she admired her classmate’s music, even though he would eventually pursue a career in animation. “That’s what he was making when we were in school together,” she recalled. “He actually finished school and is also an animator. I don’t know if people know how much range that guy has. There’s like a Cornel West feature on the record, and a Sean Price feature.”
Continuing the trend of taking inspiration from those in close proximity, she also became influenced while living with Madel Rafter after discovering The Original Crooks and Nannies’ Ugly Laugh. Dacus didn’t know of the record when they moved in together, but she was astounded when she stumbled across it. “They didn’t make a big deal about doing music and I just found this almost a year after living together and freaked out because it’s so good,” she said.
Though Dacus can usually describe the appeal of some of her famous music, one she finds difficult to put into words is Thanya Iyer’s Kind, mostly because it feels so immensely ethereal that it’s best to experience rather than hear about. As she put it: “It’s just very beautiful. It feels like—I don’t know how to describe the way in which it’s beautiful. You’ll just have to listen, I guess.”
Dacus also mentions one of her bassist’s records, Industry Night, and Y La Bamba’s Ojos Del Sol, but one she regards as a 2020 standout is Bartees Strange’s Live Forever. Aside from travelling on tour together, Dacus fell in love with this record because of Strange’s ability to deliver a polished production without compromising on atmosphere and ambience. She explained: “Live Forever is probably my favourite record of 2020, and he’s coming on tour with me in the fall. I’m just going to, like, lose my shit every night, because I love those songs and I think that he’s such a good producer.”
