Richmond’s newest breakout star has been making headlines long before the drop of
Richmond’s newest breakout star has been making headlines long before the drop of her debut album out this week, and we’ve finally got a review of the final product and it is breathtaking.
The first single off of Lucy Dacus‘s No Burden, “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” has been making the internet rounds for sometime and while I’m all about supporting local tunes, I was personally worried the production might not be up to snuff. I felt the mix was a little off, creating a disconnect between the performer’s powerful deep vocals and the equally addictive hook the track purported underneath.
Sure enough, all concerns were put to rest – as a final piece, No Burden is undoubtedly one of the best records to come out of RVA in years. With easy comparisons to vocals from early Cat Power and the melody guitar work of 90’s powerhouses like Pavement, there’s a lot to love and get lost in on this record.
A few tracks stand out, especially considering all her online audio (except the single) prior to this release was acoustic ballads (beautiful, but not exactly foot stompers). The album starts out strong with “I don’t Want to be Funny Anymore,” a track which would be warn thin on my record player if such a physical copy existed.
But the second track, “Troublemaker Doppelgänger,” is similarly strong and offers upbeat, solid riffs alongside an optimistic message of “open doors.” Dacus obviously had riffage in mind as her guitar tone is strong and demands your attention between her belted lyrics.
Other upbeat tracks, “Green Eyes, Red Face,” and “Strange Torpedo.” similarly offer slow builds that swell under her deep, warm vocals. Managing to be moving but also dancey and fun, these tracks show she can move your feet, not just your soul.
“Dream State” provides us with some outstanding vocal harmonies in a love song with just enough distorted noise to remind me of my favorite Wilco tracks.
“Trust” returns us to the familiar melodramatic acoustic tracks that populated her bandcamp for so long. Once again she shows she’s a soulful songstress at heart with the pipes and chords to melt anyones heart.
We look forward to the full release of the LP this Friday on Egg Hunt Records, but you can preorder here.
Check out the full album stream below via Noisey:
