Lucy Dacus | photo by Jeremy Zimmerman | jeremy-zim.com
Lucy Dacus shares new song “Night Shift,” will play Johnny Brenda’s in April
If you’ve seen Lucy Dacus in the last year or two, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard “Night Shift” — the Richmond, VA singer-songwriter has been performing the song live since she wrote it in 2016. Now, the first-ever recorded version of the song appears as the first single from Dacus’ just-announced sophomore album, Historian, out next spring.
At six-and-a-half minutes, “Night Shift” is a stunningly intricate ode to the way two people grow apart. Both resigned and resentful, it starts off achingly delicate before slowly building into an anthem of accepting loss and moving on with newfound strength as Dacus repeats, “You got a 9-to-5, so I’ll take the night shift / And I’ll never see you again if I can help it.”
Dacus told NPR‘s Bob Boilen:
“This is the only breakup song I’ve ever written. For a long time I didn’t believe expressing this sort of negativity was productive, but it’s less productive to resist the truth of a situation. It’s a hopeful song.”
Listen below. Historian will be released March 2 via Matador Records. Lucy Dacus appears April 13 at Johnny Brenda’s with And The Kids — find more information on the show here.