Forever Is a Feeling by Lucy Dacus Album Review

I really enjoyed listening to this record and highly recommend giving it a listen!

Mar 31, 2025

Lucy Dacus’s new album Forever is a Feeling was a release I had on my radar this year. As someone who already has tickets to her tour (oops) and is a huge fan of many of her past solo endeavors and collaborations in the supergroup Boygenius, I was excited to hear what this record had in store.

I found the intro track, “Calliope prelude” to be a great introductory track. An instrumental interlude/prelude is in my opinion often a great way to begin an album, especially a lyric heavy album like this one.

“Big Deal” might be my favorite song on the record. One thing that really stood out to me about this song was the way Dacus was able to tell a story. She tells the story of loving someone so much that you are content being their friend as long as you can be in their life. This love morphs from a platonic love to romantic love when she realizes this person has romantic feelings for her as well. The chorus of this song really struck me, stating that, “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, sincerely happy for the both of you.” I love the way this phrase emphasizes how no matter the circumstances, the speaker just wants to love this person and will support them regardless. The repetition of the phrase “you’re a big deal” adds emphasis on the idea that this love is a big deal to Dacus. This story paired with elegant guitar strumming and Dacus’s strong yet delicate voice creates such a breathtaking song that makes the listener stop dead in their tracks.

“Ankles,” the lead single, is next on the track list. This song describes wanting someone you can’t have and trying to show restraint when desiring someone, but still imagining all of the things you want to experience with this person. I find this song more seductive than many of Dacus’s other songs, which is why I think I was put off by it at first. However, I have grown to really enjoy Dacus expressing this side of herself. The more upbeat guitar riffs paired with Dacus’s dreamy vocals really put you in the headspace that Dacus was when writing this song.

“Limerence”, was the second single Dacus released. I like how blunt a lot of these lyrics are, especially in the verses where Dacus expresses “I’m just shoveling popcorn into my mouth so I don’t say the things I’m thinking out loud.” The remainder of the song dives into this idea of having to stay busy to forget your true feelings. When she released this track, she originally stated that she thought the song was “hard to listen to” but she was proud of it. I understand her sentiment because I find much of the subject matter this song explores to be heavy with lines such as “Toeing the line of betraying your trust, Why do I feel alive when I am behaving my worst?”

“Modigliani” Dacus says she wrote after spending a morning at an art museum, The Barnes Museum in Philadelphia, hence the name being a tribute to the artist Amedeo Modigliani. The song talks of missing someone, who happened to be friend and fellow Boygenius member Phoebe Bridgers who was in Singapore at the time. Something I love about this song was how Dacus is able to bring you into the day she wrote this song, with lyrics such as “Trying to fall asleep, back flat on the floor, while you were eating continental breakfast in Singapore. You make me homesick for places I’ve never been before.” As someone who greatly values friendship, I appreciate and resonate with Dacus’s love for her friends and other people around her.

I absolutely love the track “Talk.” This track describes a long term relationship where you lose touch with one another emotionally, but are still expected to have sex with the person and perform other functions of the relationship. Lyrics such as “Did I drink you to the last drop” express Dacus’s fear of the relationship being over because of their lack of communication. This song dives into much of Dacus’s fears regarding this relationship and its longevity. I really love the lyrical content of this song. The instrumentation is reminiscent of past Dacus tracks that have more rock elements incorporated. I think the drums and electric guitar as well the pacing of the lyrics help elevate the song’s message while also allowing the listener to not completely fall into melancholy.

“For Keeps” opens with an incredibly thought provoking line “If the Devil's in the details and God is everything, Who's to say that they are not one in the same?” The simplistic acoustic guitar strumming helps the listener focus on the lyrics. This is a tender and short love ballad which I greatly enjoyed.

“Forever is a feeling,” the title track, was another highlight of this record. Soft synths alongside echoey vocals help encapsulate the idea of feelings being what stays with you, not specific details. The ending of this song includes vocal harmonies from both Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers making for a beautiful outro.

“Come Out” is another favorite of mine on this record. One thing i love about Dacus’s writing is her ability to transport you to the moment she is in. She does that in these opening lines when discussing missing her lover’s call while in a boring meeting. She then transitions into a more dream like section where she is describing her love for someone and how she misses their company. With lines like “Even on opposite sides of the room, I am orbiting you” along with a dreamy guitar, lovely harp, and smooth piano, this song encapsulates the feeling of missing someone deeply.

“Best Guess” is another single released prior to the album release. It deals with the content matter of being in a relationship filled with uncertainty yet love. Dacus’s voice accompanied by a bass driven rhythm helps the listener reflect on what is being sung. This song gradually builds which is a sonic component that helps her drive home her story of this specific relationship. Lyrics like “you are my pack a day” show how Dacus is addicted to this person. She goes on to say that “you were my best friend before you were my best guess” showcasing how this person truly knows Dacus.

“Bullseye” featuring Hozier ponders how a past lover is doing now and reminiscing on past memories together. Hozier and Dacus’s vocals blend perfectly together within this song. Paired with the acoustic instrumentation, this song is beautifully constructed.

“Most Wanted Man” is another great track on this record. There is a country folk element to the instrumentation which makes it sonically stand out from a lot of the other tracks on this record. It is also more upbeat than many of the other tracks. This track explores falling in love, dealing with various aspects of fame, and how fleeting life can be.

“Lost Time,” is the concluding track to this record. The track describes feeling as though much of the time you spent knowing you were in love with someone and did not say anything lost time. Dacus describes how much she deeply loves this person and notices everything about them. I think this is a sweet and sincere way to conclude this record, much of which is about falling in love.

I found much of the production in this record to be a deviation from her previous solo records. There are less rock elements and more acoustic folk elements. I enjoy hearing Dacus experiment more and explore her sound more in this way. This is the first solo endeavor of Dacus after the booming success of her collaborations with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers in the supergroup Boygenius and I think you can see within this album how her collaborations with Boygenius inspired her to create this incredible record. Cannot wait to hear what future musical endeavors Lucy Dacus embarks on and cannot wait to see her on tour this year.

Works Cited

Lucy Dacus. Forever is a Feeling, Geffen. 28 March 2025.