Supergroup boygenius set to release first studio album after five years

Photo+Courtesy+of+Ava+Kane

Photo Courtesy of Ava Kane

For indie music fans, boygenius (stylized in all lowercase) has become a household name. Composed of three female alternative artists, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, the supergroup released their first self-titled EP in 2018. On January 18, they announced their highly anticipated album titled “the record,” featuring three singles to give fans a preview of what’s to come. 

The band has values unique to many current groups, as there is no frontwoman. “We all get to be the lead. We all get the high of each other being in the front, which is so sick and has been the ethos of this band since day one,” Bridgers said in an interview for Rolling Stone. 

The band’s origin could be considered fate, as they found out they’d be touring together in 2018 and decided to record a song together as promotion. Instead, they ended up writing six songs which became the EP. Dacus and Baker met first in 2016, and Dacus and Bridgers met a month later, forming a fast friendship and bonding over their personal similarities and similar interests.

The band’s name has a significant meaning to the group, as the three members are female, and everyone they collaborate with is also female. According to Bridgers in an interview for Vogue, a “boygenius” is “someone who their whole life has been told that their ideas are genius.” They bonded over negative experiences with male collaborators and often jokingly told each other to channel their inner “boygeniuses.” They also stylize their band name as “xboygeniusx” on their website and Instagram as a joking reference to the “X” symbol in punk subculture. Although based on the group’s style they seem like they could be a punk band, their music is anything but that. 

On March 1, the group released a fourth single from “the record” titled “Not Strong Enough.” The song features a music video shot by members of the band. Three other music videos are in the works as well, directed by Kristen Stewart.

Senior Ryan Hill from Chagrin Falls High School is excited for the upcoming releases. “I love that three great indie performers came together to form a group and are back again,” he said. “You can tell they all love and respect each other as people and artists. They’re just a great example of incredibly talented women working together to create something amazing.”