Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker formed boygenius after booking a tour together, but the trio had subconsciously been in the works for longer than that. Through a series of tours and performances together, and chance encounters that led to friendships – including Bridgers’ and Dacus’ first in-person meeting backstage at a Philadelphia festival, greenroom hangouts that felt instantly comfortable and compatible, a couple of long email chains and even a secret handshake between Baker and Dacus – the lyrically and musically arresting singer-songwriters and kindred spirits got to know each other on their own terms.

In early June of 2018, they practiced and wrote for a day before holing up in Los Angeles’ storied Sound City studios, eventually taking the EP to Bushwick for mastering courtesy of Heba Kadry (Björk, Slowdive, Beach House). Each brought one finished song and one idea to boygenius, and though all six songs were fleshed out and finalized together, each reflects the sensibilities of its initial author. Baker’s slow builds and taut vocals add urgency to “Souvenir” and “Stay Down,” while album opener “Bite the Hand” roils with slow-burning layers of guitar as Dacus stands in her devastating truth: “I can’t love you like you want me to.” The Bridgers-architected “Me & My Dog” chugs into view with a deceptively simple open-road riff and Bridgers’ insistent recounting of a relationship that couldn’t help but fall apart.