“Incredible”: Lucy Dacus on the most overlooked songwriter of the modern era

Posted On January 20, 2025January 20, 2025

As the current undisputed queen of indie rock, we will basically worship anything Lucy Dacus gives her seal of approval on. From swelling and rich vocals to soaring guitar riffs, the singer-songwriter and third of Boygenius is a fresh female force that the scene has been crying out for since time began, it seems. But much in the same vein as our reverence for the rock heroine, Dacus herself has one particular seminal inspiration she feels is criminally underrated.

Of course, electronic rockers LCD Soundsystem have the enviable reputation for bringing their all to their performance and revving up their audiences in that wake, but Dacus feels everyone would benefit from looking at the finer details and nuances of the band more closely, particularly that of frontman and principal songwriter James Murphy.

“I feel like this band is actually underrated for their songwriting because they are so well known for having a great live show and being really dance-y,” Dacus implored in 2021. “The music that they make has such a coherent vibe that you can kind of forget about the words.” She pointed particularly to the 2010 album This is Happening and gushed over Murphy by saying: “I think James Murphy is such an incredible songwriter, and his music literally moves me.”

The sparking electricity that flies from This is Happening certainly showed Murphy and Co. at their prime, with the frontman’s lyrics of particular note for the depths they deceptively delve to despite the band’s trademark energetic punk power. It’s the latter facet, which, although it is a massive appeal to the likes of Dacus, she feels overpowers Murphy’s true artistic capabilities.

But on the subject of seeing them in the flesh, Dacus explained: “I’ve never been happier than at an LCD Soundsystem show.” That unbridled joy, however, is only bound to take the sharpest and most painful fall south, as with so many fans, when things eventually come crashing down. She said: “I remember when they said they were gonna go on hiatus I cried. I’ve now seen them three times since they got back together, and I’ll just stand towards the back of the crowd so I have more room to move around.”

It’s clear this dancing queen has found kindred spirits in the electric kings of LCD Soundsystem, both simultaneously grooving their way to the top of the rock table. But what permeating impact do Dacus’s seminal inspirations have on her as she is next set to take the floor, with hotly anticipated upcoming solo effort Forever is a Feeling? If her previous records are anything to go by, we can expect brooding lyrical lamentations set to a pace of screaming guitar, placing the singer right up there with the plaudits of her musical idols.

What is making this intersection of Dacus and LCD Soundsystem reach fever pitch levels of excitement, however, is that new music is also on the horizon for the New York natives also. You can imagine Lucy Dacus being probably more than a little hyped to be releasing at the same time as her heroes – as long as she doesn’t have to battle it out with them in the charts.

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