Roughly six months after releasing their debut album, “the record”, alternative band boygenius released their second EP, “the rest”. Clarified by Lucy Dacus, one third of boygenius, “the rest” consists of tracks that the band felt weren’t ready to go on their debut album. While collectively less intense than tracks like “$20” and “Satanist” from “the record”, the four tracks on the new EP remain some of my favorites lyrically from the band. Below are my personal opinions on each track, as well as some of my favorite lyrics from each song:

1. Black Hole: While only two minutes long, “Black Hole” remains my second favorite track every time I re-listen to the EP. After the instrumental break proceeding Julien Baker’s verse, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus’ voices blend seamlessly in the second verse. While this track discusses the idea of black holes spitting out stars rather than destroying them, my favorite lyrics are seen towards the end of the track. Sung by Bridgers and Dacus, “It’s out of your hand, but / Have a / Safe flight” and “Sometimes / I need / To hear / Your voice” are my favorite lyrics on this track because of the simplicity of them, combined with the echo in the last line. 
2. Afraid of Heights: With a more upbeat melody than the previous track, Dacus’ prominent yet soft vocals throughout “Afraid of Heights” contrast with the song’s theme of being friends with someone who is a bad influence. Dacus sings about the ridicule she received after declining the instruction to jump off a cliff with a person. Later in the song, Dacus says, “Not everybody gets the chance to live / A life that isn’t dangerous”, showing her appreciation for being able to have the choice of taking a risk or not. Although not my favorite track on the EP, “Afraid of Heights” is full of thought-provoking and insightful lyrics that make me pay close attention to the song. 
3. Voyager: Consisting of lead vocals by Phoebe Bridgers, “Voyager” is my favorite track on the EP for a number of reasons. In my opinion, Bridgers’ incredibly delicate vocals mix perfectly with the soft humming from Dacus and Baker throughout the song. In addition, “Voyager”’s tone is much more somber and slow than the previous tracks, which is my favorite style of song. With gut-wrenching lyrics such as, “You thought I’d never leave / And I let you believe you were right”, this song explores themes of loss and regret over past relationships. The last lyric of the song, “You took it from me / But I would’ve given it to you” connects to the lyric “And if I could give you the moon / I would give you the moon” in one of my favorite solo songs from Bridgers, and this connection is one of the reasons “Voyager” my favorite song on the EP. 
4. Powers: Diving into the theme of self identity, I think that “Powers” is the perfect final track for “the rest”. In another Baker-led track, this song explores the unconventional possibilities of what makes someone they way they are, specifically in Baker herself. Through the use of super-villain-like origin stories such as falling into a nuclear reactor, Baker insinuates that her origin must have been negative. Toward the end of the song, the spotlight shifts from Baker to the band as a whole, in the lyric, “The force of our impact”. With this line, boygenius seems to ponder the effect that they have on the world, demonstrating the importance of self-reflection. 

As a whole, “the rest” seems to be more concise as an EP rather than the four tracks being included in “the record. To me, each song flows well when listening to the EP in order, making it hard to imagine where each would have gone in the album. With beautiful vocals from each member as well as peak lyricism, “the rest” was everything I could have hoped for after learning about its release. I look forward to hearing more from boygenius in the future.