LISTEN: Lucy Dacus Haunts the Shit Out of “In the Air Tonight”

The Phil Collins classic gets a spooky makeover for Dacus’s newly announced “2019” EP.
LISTEN: Lucy Dacus Haunts the Shit Out of “In the Air Tonight”

The Phil Collins classic gets a spooky makeover for Dacus’s newly announced “2019” EP.

Words: Mike LeSuer

photo by Elizabeth Weinberg

October 08, 2019

We’ve been curious about what Lucy Dacus has been up to since she began releasing a slew of singles earlier this year, and now we have a definitive answer: Today the songwriter and one-third of boygenius is releasing a new EP appropriately titled 2019, probably in reference to the year that it currently is. The record will include the previously released loosies, as well an unreleased cover of “Last Christmas” and two additional songs called “In the Air Tonight” and “Fool’s Gold.”

Some more good news: “In the Air Tonight” is, in fact, a cover of the Phil Collins banger, and it’s shockingly faithful to the original. Dacus’ version, which is streaming below, takes an Octoberly turn, though, playing up the atmospheric single’s untalked about spooky vibes just enough to make it a Halloween playlist must-have. “[‘In the Air Tonight’ is] perhaps the best eerie bop of all time, and certainly the best drum fill,” Dacus rightly claims in a press statement. “It’s tense, dark, and so much fun, as a good Halloween should be. This was the most fun I’ve ever had in a studio.” 

2019 is out November 8 via Matador Records. You can pre-order it here.