Standout Tracks in Lucy Dacus’ New Album ‘Home Video’
Indie-alternative artist Lucy Dacus releases sentimental reminiscence in her third studio album Home Video. Here are the standout tracks that set the tone for the vulnerable narrative Dacus takes us on.
Hot and Heavy
This track opens the album as a letter to bittersweet nostalgia, wishing you could keep something that you have clearly outgrown. When you listen alongside the music video, Dacus appears to be singing this about her hometown, possibly her past self (or even both).
VBS
In the fourth song of the album, Dacus details the experience of meeting her first boyfriend at Vacation Bible School. The track includes a bass drop of sorts, similar to the key change in her 2018 single, “Night Shift.” It adds to the lyric tone it happens over, a score to paint the picture of the boy blasting the band she speaks of.
Thumbs
Described by the singer as the song she’s “most proud of,” “Thumbs” tells the story of Dacus being the support system for a friend who must face their estranged father.
lucy dacus knew exactly what she was doing releasing home video … pic.twitter.com/G4za75uU5N
— seonaid (@seodurston) June 25, 2021
The repetition of the phrase, “I would kill him, if you let me” gives way to the anguish and anxiety that she hopes translates to the listener. Its dreamlike sound feels like nighttime, sitting on the curb under an orange streetlight waiting for an answer to something that hits in your core.
Partner in Crime
Inserting something more experimental, “Partner in Crime” describes a formative relationship in her life where she lied about her age and acted more “adult” to keep the person around. The choice of autotune was not within the artist’s original plan, but it ended up adding another layer to the masking of the truth Dacus speaks of.
Triple Dog Dare
Triple Dog Dare emphasizes the overlap of religious guilt applied to queer relationships. It speaks on a non-hypothetical experience where she and her close friend at the time were in love but refused to recognize it.
Dacus often uses repetition when a set of lyrics are heavier and must be understood and emphasized. This aligns with her “Night Shift” motif in the form of a key-changed chorus of guitars and the chanting of the phrase “Triple Dog Dare.”
i will never emotionally recover from this 🥲 @lucydacus pic.twitter.com/54eMhYT1p0
— sarah nichols (@scnicholss) June 25, 2021
In the context of the lyrical story, the way the song ends and its placement in closing out the album can be seen as a release. A release on what exactly, well, that can be many things.
It can mean letting go of childhood, of everything that once was, the naivety of youth, and the people you thought you knew (or those who claimed to know you).
Home Video represents all things that the coming-of-age experience contains, and Lucy Dacus is the warm hug reminding you of something like home (wherever that may be).
