Indie super trio boygenius, comprising singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, return today after nearly five years with three new singles: “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry,” and “True Blue.” The songs are set to appear on their first-ever studio album, the record, which the group announced alongside the release of the tracks. the record will be the follow-up to boygenius’ 2018 self-titled EP, which was entirely written and produced by Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker at the famous Shangri-la Studios in Malibu, California.
Upon arrival, all three of boygenius’ new singles immediately climbed into the Top 20 on the Genius Top Songs chart, but it’s “Emily I’m Sorry”—a ballad about getting lost in love in ways both good and bad—that leads the charge. Like the boygenius EP, the song was written, produced, and performed by all three members of the trio. However, Bridgers sings the verses alone.
On the first verse, Bridgers gives us a snapshot of her relationship. On the outside, Emily looks happy and peaceful—but there’s something dark going on beneath the surface.
She’s asleep in the backseat
Looking peaceful enough to me
But she’s wakin’ up inside a dream
Full of screeching tires and fire
Dacus and Baker join Bridgers on the hook, where she starts to feel her love spiraling in ways she can’t control.
And Emily (Emily), I’m sorry, I just
Make it up as I go along
Yet, I can feel myself becoming (I can feel myself)
Someone only you could want
On the second verse, the darkness that previously stayed hidden rises to the surface.
Headed straight for the concrete
In a nightmare screaming
Now I’m wide awake, spiraling
And you don’t wanna talk
Bridgers wishes she could go back to when things were simpler and getting lost together meant something different.
Just take me back to Montreal
I’ll get a real job, you’ll go back to school
We can burn out in the freezing cold
And just get lost
On the second chorus, she’ll do anything not to lose the love they have.
Emily (Emily), forgive me, can we
Make it up as we go along?
I’m 27 and I don’t know who I am (Don’t know who I am)
But I know what I want
the record is due out March 31, but you can read all the lyrics to “Emily I’m Sorry”—as well as “$20” and “True Blue”—on Genius now.
