Last year Lucy Dacus released Home Video, her reflective follow-up to 2018's Historian. Today, she's returned with a new single and video called "Kissing Lessons," a tender track inspired by her childhood in Richmond, Virginia. Recorded and mixed during the Home Video sessions, "Kissing Lessons" looks back on an older friend from grade school who dishes mature details on topics like winning over guys and how to kiss.
Dacus works her songwriting magic again here, setting up a scene about friends wrapped up in each other's words and thoughts: "I took her word like a golden ring," she sings. Chiming guitars interlace while Dacus describes her friend Rachel's idea to give kissing lessons, hence the track's title. Their hangouts regarding crushes and future husbands are sweet, special meetings (and queer beginnings) diving further into their romantic imaginations. "She called me by the name of her crush," Dacus sings. "I think I called her 'baby' or 'darling' most the time / We’d take turns being seduced, imagining the day it would come into use / Imagining the day we’d start breaking hearts and taking names." So freaking good!
The single comes with a charming video directed by Mara Palena that will transport you back to your childhood bedroom. "Kissing Lessons" is also part of a 7-inch that has her single "Thumbs Again" as a B-side. You can grab that here, and watch the video below.
