Lucy Dacus doesn’t want her relationship with Julien Baker to feel like a house of cards. In a recent interview with the New Yorker, the musician expressed feeling a sense of protection around their romantic partnership, primarily in the face of parasocial fandom that holds the potential to drag a dark cloud over what she already considers to be an intensely emotional experience. “It only takes a handful to make your life feel like a really easily threatened thing,” she said. “I’ve been practicing not reinforcing that narrative to myself.”
Dacus and Baker saw their respective and intertwined fanbases grow in tandem during the explosive breakout of Boygenius, the supergroup they formed with Phoebe Bridgers. In response to the music they’ve created, as well as the general function of fandom, the people who have gravitated towards them have done so with an edge of fervor and an eye for speculation.
For Dacus, who will release her fourth studio album, Forever Is a Feeling, on March 28, this has meant learning to shut out the noise before it can drown out what really matters.
“It’s been interesting because I want to protect what is precious in my life, but also to be honest and make art that’s true,” Dacus said. “I think maybe a part of it is just trusting that it’s not at risk. Maybe a healthier way to think about it is that it’s not actually fragile. These songs are about different people. But, you know, ‘Most Wanted Man in West Tennessee’—what are you gonna do?”
These sentiments worked their way into the music. In one song, per the New Yorker, she sings: “Now I feel your hand under the table, at the fancy restaurant/Gripping on my inner thigh, like if you don’t, I’m gonna run/But I’m not going anywhere, least not anywhere you’re not.”
Still, Dacus holds an awareness of how fragile the present can be. It’s one that bubbled to the surface with a particular sense of urgency when Boygenius released The Record in 2023. “We had these big goals of playing sick shows. But it immediately outpaced our expectations. We just had to adjust. I’m still shocked,” she said. “That’s something all of us talk about and work on. I feel dissociated. I also feel like it could go away in a second. Because, if it can show up in a second, it can go away in a second.”
There might not be a hack for navigating this professionally, but Dacus did find a loophole when applying it to her relationships. “Almost every relationship I have been in, we’ve had some business or creative dealings. I don’t mean this just sexually, but it turns me on,” she said. “To have your minds meet on something, and be, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you said what I couldn’t say. I love your mind.’”
Dacus added: “How are you doing romance without friendship? I can’t imagine. That feels so hollow. It makes me feel ill! Someone that’s not my friend? Are you serious?”
