Lucy Dacus Presents New Single/Video, ‘VBS’
New Album, Home Video, Out June 25th on Matador
photo credit – Ebru Yildiz
Lucy Dacus presents ‘VBS,’ a new single/video from her forthcoming album, Home Video, out June 25th on Matador. Like the previously released ‘Hot & Heavy’ and ‘Thumbs,’ ‘VBS’ starts the way a memoir might – “In the summer of ‘07 I was sure I’d go to heaven, but I was hedging my bets at VBS” – and presents the compassion, humour and honesty of the best autobiographical writing. “VBS’ features Dacus on vocals, Jacob Blizard on a slew of electric and acoustic guitars and Jake Finch on drums and organ. The song’s opening melody is contained, feeling as intimate as a whisper, before erupting into a wall of reverb and static, and eventually falling away as Dacus carries it out with only her voice. The beautifully animated ‘VBS’ video was made by Dacus’ longtime creative collaborator and Home Video visual director Marin Leong. It perfectly complements the song’s pacing and Home Video’s overall visual presentation (see album layout here). Dacus and Leong comment on the song and video:
“VBS means vacation bible school, and I went to tons of them. It’s where Christian parents send their kids over the winter, spring, or summer breaks from school to get closer to God, maybe learn some outdoor skills, and bring home useless crafts and totems like fruit of the spirit sand art and purity rings. I wrote the song in the van on the way to Nashville to record Home Video after seeing one of those readerboards outside a church advertising a wholesome church camp for kids. I thought about my first boyfriend, who I met at VBS, the resident bad boy who loved Slayer and weed more than Jesus. I took it upon myself to save him, and make him stop doing drugs (with an exception for snorting nutmeg). God, I was so lame.” – Lucy Dacus
“A lot of the album examines navigation of self and how it evolves, and Lucy and I have often talked about bodies, the part they play in our ideation of self, and both connection and disconnection to them. We arrived at this world where her physical self is being distorted by the landscape that she’s present in, both in a beautiful and slightly uncanny way. One of the reasons I find animation and music compelling is the freedom in world-building, the ability to translate story and tone, and synthesize it into a visual landscape using imagery that isn’t necessarily rooted in reality. And although I was treating this video like a diptych or braided essay with the song, rather than an overt visual depiction, I was able to make some subtle but direct references to the lyrics as well, so I’m excited for people to find those.” – Marin Leong
Watch Lucy Dacus’ “VBS” Video
Home Video is a gorgeous example of the transformative power of vulnerability. Dacus’s voice, both audible and on the page, has a healer’s power to soothe and ground and reckon. Built on Dacus’ interrogation of her coming-of-age years in Richmond, Virginia, it displays her ability to use the personal as portal into the universal. The songs capture that specific moment in time growing up where emotions and relationships start becoming more complex — the joys, the excitement, the confusion, and even the heartbreak of going through the process of discovering who you are and where people fit in your life and where you fit in theirs.
The follow-up to 2018’s Historian, Home Video was recorded at Trace Horse Studio in Nashville with her loyal friends and collaborators Jacob Blizard, Collin Pastore, and Jake Finch, and mixed by Shawn Everett.
Praise for Lucy Dacus:
“If Dacus’ past releases have delivered a few emotional knockout punches, [Home Video] is full of them.” – Rolling Stone
“‘Hot & Heavy’ begins in a synthesized glow…But it doesn’t take long for ‘Hot & Heavy’ to kick into a gallop, coming alive with chiming guitars and gleaming pop-rock flourishes that recall ‘Full Moon Fever’-era Tom Petty.” – New York Times
“So much of what I love about Lucy’s songs is how much wisdom and clarity there is in them.” – NPR Music
“As the arrangement [of ‘Hot & Heavy’] swells into a lush sonic landscape, mirroring the personal growth and inner strength that she’s taking stock of, Dacus’ talent is undeniable.” – them.
“Though its melodies are energetic and spritely, on ‘Hot & Heavy’ it’s clear Dacus’s feelings about her hometown are complicated.” – NYLON
“’Hot & Heavy’ really portrays this confusing mix of regret, longing, and acceptance. When she sings the last line, ‘It’s bittersweet to see you again,’ and the weightless, swirling instrumentals take over the song, she’s embracing whatever comes next.” – Stereogum
“[Lucy Dacus’] sharp lyrics and ascendant voice are a galelike force, and her new song ‘Thumbs’ removes all other musical elements to zone in on that gripping intensity.” – Entertainment Weekly
“Finally available in its recorded form, perhaps the greatest testament to ‘Thumbs’ is that it still retains the same ability to stop you dead in your tracks. – FADER
Home Video Cover Artwork
LUCY DACUS
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