Lucy Dacus's third album was built on an interrogation of her coming-of-age years in Richmond, VA. Many songs start the way a memoir might"In the summer of 07 I was sure Id go to heaven, but I was hedging my bets at VBSand all of them have the compassion, humor, and honesty of the best autobiographical writing. Most importantly and mysteriously, this album displays Dacuss ability to use the personal as portal into the universal. I cant hide behind generalizations or fiction anymore, Dacus says, though talking about these songs, she admits, makes her ache.

That Home Video arrives at the end of this locked down, fearful era seems as preordained as the messages within. I dont necessarily think that Im supposed to understand the songs just because I made them, Dacus says, I feel like theres this person who has been in me my whole life and Im doing my best to represent them. After more than a year of being homebound, in a time when screens and video calls were sometimes our only form of contact, looking backward was a natural habit for many. If we havent learned it already, this album is a gorgeous example of the transformative power of vulnerability. Dacuss voice, both audible and on the page, has a healers power to soothe and ground and reckon.