“Kissing Lessons”, a B-side from Dacus’ most recent album, is an upbeat, urgent tune, and is also one of the songwriter’s shortest songs to date. The song wastes no time introducing itself with a lightly overdriven guitar starting things off, soon joined by a subdued drum beat that quickly blossoms into a thick, driving rhythm as a bass guitar swoops in to glue everything together. Over the top of the warmly overdriven instrumental, Dacus delivers a tongue-in-cheek anecdote from her pre-teen years, singing about a close friend who she refers to as “Rachel”. Dacus said of the song in a newsletter: “I have a new song called ‘Kissing Lessons’ which is actually an old song I wrote in 2017 and tried to put in Home Video but it didn’t fit in because it’s too fun.”

As part of the promotion for this song, Dacus had flyers put up around her home city of Richmond, Virginia with the number (804) 409-4451 printed on them. Anyone who called the number would then hear the new song prior to its official release.

“Kissing Lessons” will be part of an upcoming 7” vinyl release that will also include the song “Thumbs Again” , an alternate version of the singer-songwriter’s recent track “Thumbs”. The 7” will be released on June 3^rd, and is available for pre-order here.

Dacus’ new single comes hot on the heels of her latest album release; 2021’s Home Video, which was very warmly received, and has found a very well-deserved place on many year-end lists with its sonic beauty and hard-hitting lyricism concerning the tribulations and anxieties of an upbringing spent surrounded by religion. The album manages to be autobiographical, with Dacus making many references to her childhood and returning to her hometown as an adult, whilst also tackling subject matter that speaks to a great deal of people on a personal level. You can view the cleverly constructed lyric video for “Brando” from the album below.

Dacus will also be going on tour soon, embarking on a US leg on the 9^th of February. She will also be visiting the UK and Europe in March and April. Several of the singer’s UK dates are sold out, however any remaining tickets can be purchased here. The UK dates are listed down below.

18/03/2022- Brudenell Social Cub- Leeds (SOLD OUT)
19/03- Brudenell Social Club- Leeds (SOLD OUT)
20/03- St. Lukes- Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
21/03- Olympia Theatre- Dublin
23/03- Gorilla- Manchester (SOLD OUT)
24/03- Marble Factory- Bristol
25/03- Kentish Town Forum- London
26/03- Rough Trade Records, In Store Performance- London
27/03- Concorde 2- Brighton

Dacus has just recently finished up a 2021 tour in support of her Home Video, where the Winter 2022 tour will be the continuation of the previous tour. On the 19th of November she will link up with her Boygenius bandmates for their first show in three years, where they will play a benefit show in San Fransisco.

The track, which recalls an evening where Dacus met a friends estranged father and fantasised about killing him, was influenced by her own struggles with her birth father: Dacus tells the Rolling Stone, “it ends with those lines, ‘You don’t owe him shit/Even if he said you did. That’s me speaking to her, but I needed to hear that for myself.” 

The original track “Thumbs” was so highly anticipated earlier in the year that it had its own fan-run Twitter account. “Thumbs” managed to entice a visceral reaction from Dacus herself, saying that “like most songs I write, I wasn’t expecting it. It made me feel weird, almost sick,” telling the Rolling Stone. Listen to the original below:

The tour she is to embark on is expansive, covering most of North America and Europe. See ticket information here and tour information below:
* = Indigo De Souza supporting
**= Fenne Lily supporting

02/09/ 2022 – Stage AE – Pitts, PA *
02/10 – Majestic – Detroit, MI *
02/11 – Ovation – Newport, KY *
02/12 – Egyptian Room – Indy, IN *
02/14 – Turner Ballroom Valentine’s Day – Milwaukee, WI *
02/15 – Thalia Hall (Rescheduled Date) – Chicago, IL – SOLD OUT
02/17 – First Ave (Rescheduled Date) – Minneapolis, MN – * – SOLD OUT
02/18 – Englert Theatre – Iowa City, IA (Rescheduled Date) * – SOLD OUT
02/19 – Liberty – Lawrence, KS *
02/20 – Tower Theatre – OK City, OK *
02/23 – Georgia Theatre – Athens, GA – *
02/24 – Orange Peel – Asheville, NC *
02/25 – Jefferson- C-Ville, VA *
02/26 – Stone Pony- Asbury Park, NJ *
03/01 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ONT (Rescheduled Date) *
03/02 – Corona Theatre – Montreal, QUE (Rescheduled Date) *
03/03 – The Strand – Providence, RI
03/05 – Ram’s Head – Baltimore, MD
03/18 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK SOLD OUT
03/19 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
03/20 – St. Lukes – Glasgow, UK – SOLD OUT
03/21 – The Button Factory – Dublin, IE **
03/23 – Gorilla – Manchester, UK
03/24 – Trinity – Bristol, UK
03/25 – Kentish Town Forum – London, UK
03/29 – Rotonde – Brussels, BL **
03/30 – Paradiso Noord – Amsterdam, NL **
03/31 – Artheater – Cologne, DE **
04/02 – Molotow – Hamburg, DE **
04/03 – Loppen – Copenhagen, DK **
04/04 – Atlas – Aarhus, DK **
04/06 – Parkteatret – Oslo, NO**
04/07 – Nalen Klubb – Stockholm, SE **
04/09 – Lido – Berlin, DE **
04/10 – Trafo – Jena, DE **
04/11 – Chelsea – Vienna, AT **
04/13 – Milla – Munich, DE **
04/14- Bogen F – Zürich, SU  **
04/15 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, FR **