Lucy Dacus releases new single and video ‘VBS
LUCY DACUS
PRESENTS NEW SINGLE/VIDEO
NEW ALBUM
OUT JUNE 25TH ON MATADOR
EXPANDS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
(credit: Ebru Yildiz, hi-res)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, humor 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 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, a perfect companion to the song’s pacing and Home Video’s aesthetic (see album layout here).
Watch the video 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
‘VBS’ follows previous single ‘Hot & Heavy’, which The Sunday Times called a “lovely, reflective slow-rocker, while Evening Standard noted, “inspired by Dacus’s revisiting of her adolescent, coming-of-age years in Virginia, this first single is soaked in all the bittersweet nostalgia you’d expect”. The track has been played across BBC Radio 1, 6 Music and Radio 2 and has quickly had over 2m plays on DSP’s.
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.
Home Video US Tour:(new dates in bold)
Wed. June 23 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (supporting Shakey Graves)
Fri. Sept. 10 – Richmond, VA @ The National &^^
Sat. Sept. 11 – Richmond, VA @ The National &% – SOLD OUT
Mon. Sept. 13 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom %
Tue. Sept. 14 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West %
Wed. Sept. 15 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Fri. Sept. 17 – Dallas, TX @ Trees %
Sat. Sept. 18 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall- Downstairs %
Sun. Sept. 19 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn %Mon.
Sept. 20 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger %
Wed. Sept. 22 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole %
Fri. Sept. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel %
Sat. Sept. 25 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory OC
Mon. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore %
Thu. Sept. 30 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre $
Fri. Oct. 1 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom $
Sat. Oct. 2 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre $
Tue. Oct. 5 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
Wed. Oct. 6 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater $
Fri. Oct. 8 – Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theatre $
Sat. Oct. 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue $
Mon. Oct. 11 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
Tue. Oct. 12 – Columbus , OH @ Newport Music Hall $
Thu. Oct. 14 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House $
Fri. Oct. 15 – Montreal, QC @ L’Astral $
Sat. Oct. 16 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues $
Mon. Oct. 18 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground $
Wed. Oct. 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
Fri. Oct. 22 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $ – SOLD OUT
Sat. Oct. 23 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
Mon. Oct. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel – SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
%= Bachelor supporting
$ = Bartees Strange supporting
^ = Shamir supporting
#= Laura Stevenson supporting
^^=Thao and The Get Down Stay Down supporting
&= with Julien Baker
Home Video Tracklist
1. Hot & Heavy
2. Christine3. First Time
4. VBS
5. Cartwheel
6. Thumbs
7. Going Going Gone
8. Partner In Crime
9. Brando
10. Please Stay
11. Triple Dog Dare
LUCY DACUS
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