The second record by
Richmond, Virginia’s Lucy Dacus is
fantastic. The indie-rock singer-songwriter really spreads her wings here, and
the results are a mix of the haunting and the powerful. Album opener ‘Night
Shift’ is a 6-minute microcosm of the wider album: it begins with soft acoustic
lamentations and brutally honest heart-pouring (‘the first time I tasted
somebody else’s spit/I had a coughing fit’) and ends with musical roughage and vocal
howls. An amazing start. The album only grows from there: for example, ‘The Shell’ approaches 70s prog territory, while ‘Yours & Mine’ evokes the
miseraballads of early-Decemberists.
Historian is an album of notable
scope and weight. It features, albeit in moderation, some really quite dense arrangements
of strings and horns, but these are all about servicing the most basic elements
of the song in question. For all its grand scale and ambition, Historian ultimately excels because of
its root melodies, hummable choruses and compelling storytelling. At its core,
this remains the work of an outstanding singer-songwriter, but it has
been augmented in a way that lifts it well above the crowd. Not sure how this
only made 7th place. Superb.
sample track: Night Shift