Album of the Week: boygenius - the record | 2023 Week 13

Back in 2018, the news that Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus were teaming up as boygenius set indie fans around the world into excitement overload, with their self-title EP released that same year proving that even early on, the trio were definitely greater than the sum of their parts.

Now the thing fans have been really waiting for is here - their debut, full-length album, the record, that sees the group cohesively and seemingly effortlessly drift between genres that allow each of the three’s specialties to shine through.

Album opener Without You Without Them perfectly sets the scene in atmospheric fashion, being a vocal harmonising acapella, before switching things up to just about the heaviest cut on the record, single and fan favourite of big, bold alt-rock sounds, $20.

From here, boygenius explore downtempo, enchanting indie rock, acoustic country, majestic indie pop and stripped back ballads, all perfectly complimenting the tracks that precede and follow. Not that there was any doubt as to their greatness by this point, but with the record, boygenius cement themselves as some of the most skilled songwriters and interesting artists in the modern indie world.

Buy boygenius 'the record' (Vinyl)

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The best of the rest of this week's records:

B. Cool-Aid - Leather Blvd.  [Lex Records] USA

Hip Hop

Coda Chroma - Dreamself [Echo Foxtrot] AUS

Alt Folk / Pop

DMA's - How Many Dreams? [I OH YOU] AUS

Rock / Pop

Buy DMA's 'How Many Dreams' (CD)

Gel - Only Constant [Convulse Records] USA

Punk / Hardcore

James Holden - Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities [Border Community Recordings] ENG

Electronic

Buy James Holden 'Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities' (Vinyl)

PACKS - Crispy Crunchy Nothing [Fire Talk] CAN

Indie / Rock

Private Function - 370HSSV 0773H [Private Function] AUS

Punk / Rock

The New Pornographers - Continue as a Guest [Merge Records] USA

Indie / Pop

Buy The New Pornographers 'Continue as a Guest' (Vinyl)

V - Faithless [Heavy Machinery Records] AUS

Electronic / Industrial