The indie supergroup boygenius sees the beauty in everything. After releasing their groundbreaking album “the record” in March 2023, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers (or “the boys”) set out on their 2023 fall tour. Fans from coast to coast have been able to share tissues with one another or lose their voice screaming “I know you have $20” in a pent-up rage.

On Sept. 25, boygenius posted a photo on Instagram of the three members standing next to each other on a beach. The dark shades of blue from the ocean complimented their shadowy silhouettes caught in the wind, creating an almost eerie display. The post announced their new four-track EP titled “the rest.” At their sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 2, the band played the EP in its entirety before it was officially released.

Although “the rest” is an EP and not an album, it still feels whole in the way a full album would. It’s short and sweet – sounding like a bittersweet farewell letter to their previous album, “the record,” the 2023 tour, and everything they’ve accomplished in the past couple of months. But it feels different compared to their classic boygenius works, which consist of harmonies that end in a rageful chaos.

The EP starts off with the track “Black Hole,” which transports the listener into a coming-of-age film. The ominous keys of a piano, sounding almost synth-like at the beginning, are followed by Baker’s angelic voice singing, “In a rainstorm/Suckin’ down a dart on the back porch.” 

An instrumental build-up of drums and guitar are then accompanied by Bridgers and Dacus delicately singing, “My thoughts, all noise, fake smile, decoys/Sometimes, I need to hear your voice.” Their lyrics are like paper cuts — light and delicate, but still deep and painful.

Staying true to their style, boygenius continues to produce raw, relatable, and meaningful lyrics track after track. In “Afraid of Heights,” Dacus sings, “I never rode a motorcycle/I’ve never smoked a cigarette/I wanna live a vibrant life/But I wanna die a boring death.” They blend their lyrics with riveting storytelling to create something new and exciting. In “Voyage,” Bridgers sings “There are days spent tangled up together/Sometimes you let me read your mind/And there are nights you say you don’t remember.”

Baker, Dacus, and Bridgers put themselves into their work. Their melodic voices entangled with their words allow the listener to feel seen in their music. Even if the listener cannot personally relate to the experiences the songs describe, they’re able to picture them clearly with boygenius’ remarkable scene setup. The EP is a product of what the band has been striving for — being in touch with their emotions. Boygenius embraces their perfections and imperfections. “the rest” emphasizes a common theme in all of their works — to see the beauty of life in everything, no matter how good or bad.

The EP ends with “powers,” where Baker refers to herself as a failed experiment, questioning who she is: “How did it start? Did I fall into a nuclear reactor?” Roaming the universe and being lost in orbit are two surprisingly accurate descriptors of what it feels like to listen to boygenius. Writing and singing about one’s identity takes a lot of strength and self-reflecting. Boygenius does this effortlessly track after track, making it look easy for listeners to empathize with their lyrics.

The strum of a guitar in the background of “powers” grounds the listener as the three members harmonize together at the end, closing the EP out with the lyrics, “Just a light in the tunnel and whatever gets scattered/Life flashin’ before the eye of whatever comes after/The force of our impact, the fission/The hum of our contact, the sound of our collisions.” In four ethereal tracks, boygenius shows us that even the mundane can be beautiful.