Hear Lucy Dacus pay tribute to Bible Camp romance with “the resident bad boy who loved Slayer and weed more than Jesus” in new song VBS
Dacus’ new album Home Video arrives in June.
Image: Ebru Yildiz
Lucy Dacus has released a new track from her upcoming album Home Video, due out 25 June through Matador Records. Entitled VBS, the song is an ode to her teenage days at Bible Camp and the romance she found there.
In a statement about the track, Dacus explained: “VBS means vacation Bible school, and I went to tons of them. It’s where Christian parents send their kids over the winter, spring, or summer breaks from school to get closer to God, maybe learn some outdoor skills, and bring home useless crafts and totems like fruit of the spirit sand art and purity rings
“I wrote the song in the van on the way to Nashville to record Home Video after seeing one of those readerboards outside a church advertising a wholesome church camp for kids. I thought about my first boyfriend, who I met at VBS, the resident bad boy who loved Slayer and weed more than Jesus. I took it upon myself to save him, and make him stop doing drugs (with an exception for snorting nutmeg). God, I was so lame.”
Home Video follows Dacus’ 2018 record Historian, and was recorded at Trace Horse Studio in Nashville. Jacob Blizard, Collin Pastore and Jake Finch appear on the record and it was mixed by Shawn Everett.
VBS is the third release from Home Video, following Hot & Heavy and Thumbs’ arrival earlier this year. The song arrives with a colourful, 2D-animated video, which you can see below. It was directed by Marin Leong, who said of its conception: “A lot of the album examines navigation of self and how it evolves, and Lucy and I have often talked about bodies, the part they play in our ideation of self, and both connection and disconnection to them. We arrived at this world where her physical self is being distorted by the landscape that she’s present in, both in a beautiful and slightly uncanny way.
“One of the reasons I find animation and music compelling is the freedom in world building, the ability to translate story and tone, and synthesize it into a visual landscape using imagery that isn’t necessarily rooted in reality. And although I was treating this video like a diptych or braided essay with the song, rather than an overt visual depiction, I was able to make some subtle but direct references to the lyrics as well, so I’m excited for people to find those.”
Alongside the new single release, Dacus has added some extra dates to her 2021 US tour. You can see the full list of dates here. Home Video can be preordered here.