Quietest of the three for supergroup boygenius, Emily I’m Sorry rounds out a taster session EP. Ahead of The Album and the hopeful charms and consistencies that will come from a pairing of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker is a track that marks all the powerful intonations they present in their solo work. Backseat sleeping and the likes always bring up autumnal feelings and, by extension, the first Twilight movie. Battling against that horror comparison is up to boygenius and Emily I’m Sorry tries its best. Not as powerful as the guitar-heavy $20, not as lyrically inspired as True Blue, but certainly the most vocally present. Emily I’m Sorry marks the third piece of what should be one track.
Difficult it is to mount much love for a three-track EP that presents one singular quality each time, Emily I’m Sorry is the weakest when it comes to placing a mood or style beyond that of an early mid-life crisis. An eponymous ode to Emily, broad enough lyrically to let listeners push themselves, once again, to the main character section of indie-pop listening. Broad and intentionally vague strokes open and close this EP-ender. Simple contrast and structured acoustics are bombarded with indistinct, noncommittal moods. Self-doubt is prevalent in each of these tracks and it is a harder and harder pill to swallow when looking at what this trio of artists has achieved, together and separately.
Considering the idea of picking up a “real job”, moving “back to Montreal” may be a rejection of success but it is also a likely embrace of simpler times. Emily I’m Sorry is a very soppy track for that and does not justify its backpedalling ways. “I’m twenty-seven and I don’t know who I am”. The clock is ticking, get moving. There is a desire to push forward but these are implementations, characteristics and elements that are going to appeal to rather than provoke. A thought beyond “that sounded nice” is unlikely to be conjured from Bridgers’ strong vocal pacing here. Her tempo is on key as ever, but these artists cannot push themselves any further lyrically. Emily I’m Sorry feels open and tender but is just an invitation for ghoulish fans to make assumptions about people they do not know.
It is that connection that is dangerous, and boygenius must be aware of that. They are, after all the “world’s greatest” supergroup, as Rolling Stone Magazine defined them. What started as an optimistic assessment of three independently solid artists has already run its course. The Waeve are the best supergroup from this year anyway. Twee and light tones on Emily I’m Sorry, the acoustic brevity and lightness of it, and the slight string sections that open up this forgettable track, are nothing particularly beyond what Bridgers offers as a solo artist. For boygenius to work as a concept, it must elevate itself and the tracks beyond that of just solid ventures that offer collaboration between three artists working alone. So far, the quality is mixed, and for Emily I’m Sorry, the glaring issues come from a lack of innovation on sounds that have served this trio well for years.
