Lucy Dacus

Lucy Dacus’s songwriting is distinguished by striking vulnerability and vivid, novel-like imagery: her spare 2018 song “Night Shift” begins with the evocative lines, “The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit, I had a coughing fit,” delivered in a dusky, even-keeled voice. The Virginia native started playing guitar as a teenager and later studied film before leaving university and pursuing music more seriously. Dacus recorded her 2016 debut, No Burden, as part of a friend's school project, which led to a deal with Matador Records. Two years later, Dacus released both a lauded solo effort, Historian, and an album with the indie supergroup boygenius, which also features Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. Dacus spent 2019 releasing a series of singles (including a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In the Dark”) before releasing another collection of literate songs, Home Video, in 2021.