Locks, love, and limerence: Lucy Dacus preserves the present in ‘Forever is a Feeling’

Lucy Dacus has a gift for preserving memory in song, and Forever is a Feeling, her fourth solo album, is like a locket. All thirteen tracks are packed with moments too precious to forget. Through devastating delicacy, she describes the weight of love, the textures of domestic joy, and the ache of nostalgia in a timeless way.

Dacus is stepping into a new way of songwriting. Recently, she’s confessed her lyricism comes from ‘an academic place, so to write from the body was really cool’

The first single released, ‘Ankles’, sets the tone, bridging eras, sensibilities, and selves. Its title alone evokes both repression and liberation: the scandal of a Victorian woman’s bare ankle meets Dacus’ smouldering fantasy of being pulled “by the ankles to the edge of the bed.” This layering of time, symbolism, and sexuality continues throughout the song. “One of three ancient fates / playing with your scissors again,” Dacus sings, nodding to Greek mythology, slang for lesbian sex, and her bandmate-turned-partner Julien Baker (one of three members of Boygenius). Her lyrics here are both thoughtful and cheeky, creating a signature motif for the album. The music video for ‘Ankles’ similarly blends classic and contemporary elements, where after taking the subway and navigating modern settings in a red Renaissance gown, Dacus is lead back to a torn canvas. Such a scene highlights how Dacus is stepping into a new way of songwriting. Recently, she’s confessed her lyricism comes from ‘an academic place, so to write from the body was really cool’, using ‘Ankles’ to embody a new physicality while remaining true to her craft.

In weaving the past with the present, 29-year-old Dacus makes us questions what lasts. On ‘Bullseye’, she sings of “lovers who put locks” on European bridges, and the metaphor cuts both ways. These locks, heavy with meaning, eventually have to be removed. “The metal weighs down the bearings”, Dacus tells us, musing on an ideal breakup. Such locks can seem as strong as relationships, but are still impermanent. Meanwhile, her songs themselves, though light, last longer.

Dacus graciously sings of folding “formal attire on the floor” while her girlfriend gets “ready for work”. It’s not grand, but it is sacred. Forever is a Feeling is full of queer love that isn’t tragic, but ordinary and beautiful

Still, it’s not a perfect balancing act. While ‘Bullseye’ features a stunning guest appearance from Hozier, his signature powerful vocals highlight a noticeable softness in Dacus’ own delivery. For fans who resonate more with the emotional force of her most popular record, ‘Night Shift’, the contrast is notable. Her restraint here feels intentional, but not everyone will find it satisfying. Some critics have even suggested that the refined tone of the album marks a move toward commercial polish, Dacus’ first major-label release being read by some as selling out.

Not only vocally, but sonically too, many tracks lean into Bridgerton-esque arrangements—gentle strings and quiet piano flourishes—that feel more like chamber music than indie rock. But these elegant backdrops highlight, rather than downplay, Dacus’ intimate scenes. On ‘Limerence’, Phoenix Rousiamanis’ violin swells beneath lyrics about “playing GTA” and “taking hits from a blunt.” It’s a subtle act of rebellion: elevating the everyday and treating modern life with the same reverence as a Raphael cartoon. In the album’s closer, ‘Lost Time’, Dacus graciously sings of folding “formal attire on the floor” while her girlfriend gets “ready for work”. It’s not grand, but it is sacred. Forever is a Feeling is full of queer love that isn’t tragic, but ordinary and beautiful.

Throughout Forever is a Feeling, Dacus circles back to memory. Whether it’s the “1993 Grand Cherokee” in the title track, or the ‘Modigliani Melancholy’ evoked on the fifth track, she keeps reaching into the past

That same tenderness runs through ‘Best Guess’, a sweetly flirtatious song where Dacus sings of Baker as her “best bet” and “best guess at the future.” Speaking to Them, Dacus explains that ‘Best Guess’ is her first song openly using gender, so she wanted its music video to also embrace gender, showing masculinity in a safe way, contrasting current connotations of toxicity. The accompanying video features men, women and non-binary people in tuxedos gambling and dancing with suave ease —gender euphoria dressed up and stripped down at once.  They flirt, arm-wrestle, and shrug off their jackets, mirroring the song’s tone perfectly: demure, but deeply playful. Dacus casts herself as a “gambling man” in love, and the risk feels fun rather than fraught.

Elsewhere, she offers vignettes of passion and longing. ‘Most Wanted Man’ is smoky and sultry, centring on the intoxicating attention of desire. Meanwhile, ‘For Keeps’ is a simpler take on love, a hymn more soothed than sung. Throughout Forever is a Feeling, Dacus circles back to memory. Whether it’s the “1993 Grand Cherokee” in the title track, or the ‘Modigliani Melancholy’ evoked on the fifth track, she keeps reaching into the past. Perhaps, such references show the longevity of her feelings for Baker, or her tendency to hold onto history, but either way they’re pretty charming.

Ultimately, Forever is a Feeling manages to be a hushed ‘Big Deal’. Through each whisper of orchestral elegance, every blunt passing, GTA-playing, laundry-folding moment, Dacus makes one thing clear: even if the objects of our love vanish, and even if bridges can’t hold their weight, the feelings remain. In her songs, they remain forever.

Recommended Listening: ‘Bullseye’

★★★★

Listen to Forever is a Feeling here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/2PedUC4azy5ywqWp8gVVrs?si=9s_eyMQHQt6RY5PEsZiSUg