Lucy Dacus’ ‘No Burden’ almost sounds too self-assured to be a debut

Lucy Dacus’ voice sounds as if it’s one we’re all comfortably familiar with. Perhaps it’s partly because it sits nonchalantly on the spectrum between Laura Marling and Courtney Barnett, two of the strongest female voices to release records last year, and partly because album opener ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore’ is so self-assured and refined it sounds like it shouldn’t be a debut.

Garage-pop but with pristine production, she sings about stereotyping and musical clichés with a forthrightness and clarity that defies her years. From the country-blues twang in ‘Troublemaker, Doppelganger’ to the Dodos-esque guitar and drums crescendo on ‘Direct Address’, ‘No Burden’ is held together by Dacus’ recognisable sense of wit and candidness. Where she shines most though is in the stripped back confessionals of ‘Dream State’, ‘Trust’, and ‘Familiar Place’, her delicate vocals weaving a folk tinted course. Immediate and simple in its appeal, ‘No Burden’ displays talent and vision a-plenty. And at just twenty-one, it will be interesting to see where it takes her next.