You’re a Big Deal: Lucy Dacus and the Courage to Feel

Forever is a Feeling — the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus — is out now. This marks her first solo release since the disbandment of Boygenius, the indie-rock band she previously co-founded. Alone, however, Dacus doesn’t seem lost. Instead, she bravely turns inward, choosing an intimate and sincere space to explore the complexity and depth of human emotions.

The Art of Staying

The central theme of the album is a love that never has the chance to fully unfold. “We both know that it would never work / You've got your girl, you're gonna marry her / And I'll be watching in a pinstriped suit,” sings Lucy Dacus. Yet this is not an album about suffering in a traditional sense. Despite the inevitability of loss, the lyrical heroine chooses vulnerability — she allows herself to feel, to name her emotions, and to live through them fully, for as long as they last. She doesn’t judge reality; she simply inhabits it. At the same time, she refuses to diminish the intensity of her feelings in order to shield herself from the pain to come. Instead, she states with quiet sincerity: “You’re a big deal.”

This theme runs throughout the whole album. But, while it gives the work a strong sense of cohesion, it also makes it somewhat repetitive. In each track, the lyrical heroine appears as someone who simultaneously chooses love and loss — and that choice feels brave. But she remains stuck in that role, circling around it for all thirteen songs. And since emotional repetition accompanies thematic consistency, Forever is a Feeling may feel monotonous to some listeners.

The Human Face of Eternity

Beyond its emotional core, the album’s subtle aesthetic language may be what quietly draws listeners in — offering not only feeling but form shaped by Hellenic influences. Visually, this is expressed through the cover art, which draws inspiration from Renaissance portraits of the Madonna or Venus. However, the female figure here appears sacralized yet not religious. The tattoo and the album title “Forever is a Feeling” also seem to return the traditionally divine notion of eternity to the human realm — internalizing it.

The ancient aesthetic is evident in the lyrics, too. The title of the opening track, Calliope Prelude, references one of the nine ancient Muses — the patron of epic poetry and eloquence. This thread continues in the album’s metaphorical language: such verses as “One of three ancient fates / playing with your scissors again” along with others that blend myth with modern intimacy. The lyricism is deep yet unforced, filled with tender, almost corporeal imagery.

Between Balance and Feeling

Musically, the Hellenic spirit is reflected in the album’s measured pace, which outlines emotion in space without allowing it to dominate the entire atmosphere. The music becomes a place of distant contemplation rather than emotional immersion — a space seeking balance instead of catharsis.

The active use of traditional instruments — such as cello, violin, mandolin, harp, and organ — creates a musical fabric that feels timeless and eternal, subtly balanced by the presence of drums, electric guitars, synthesizers, and other modern textures. This again underscores the fusion of the earthly and the spiritual that runs throughout the whole work.

In this way, all of the album’s elements come together as a coherent canvas, each one complementing and enhancing the others. It creates a sense of brave presence in the moment — a moment where joy and sorrow, beauty and pain coexist. And all of them can be lived through with maximum openness, honesty, and vulnerability.