KEXP finally unveiled boygenius‘ 2018 performance this spring, and with it came the proper recording their radio- and tour-only rendition of “Cowboy Take Me Away.” Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus’ tribute to fellow trifecta Dixie Chicks is full of a melancholy yearning that makes it feel like a spiritual companion to boygenius closer “Ketchum, ID.” Trading verses about longing to be held under the stars and to stand alone under sublime skyscraper-free skies, the trio share the same conflicting desires that made them want to “dissolve the band” and “move to Idaho”: to find solitude and to find belonging, for stability and for freedom. With twinkly mandolin and violin from frequent Baker collaborator Camille Faulkner, boygenius’ “Cowboy Take Me Away” is rustic and wistful, but with an overarching sweetness, purity and even delight.
From Baker’s first infectious, irrepressible grin to the giggles the moment the song ends, it seems the peace the three are searching for isn’t so far out of reach. Baker, Bridgers and Dacus are each formidable forces as cover artists in their own right, as this list attests. Together, they sound completely free—and completely at home.
