“The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit I had a coughing fit,” she sings on Historian’s opening track, “Night Shift”.

With her critically acclaimed albums (“one of rock’s best pens”, pop-culture website Vulture called her), Dacus has been praised for her ability to write raw, observational lyrics – most of which draw from her life and the people around her. As part of the indie “supergroup” trio Boygenius, Dacus’ vocals provide emotional punches that fit perfectly with those of her bandmates, fellow singers Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker.

It only seems logical, then, that Dacus has finally touched upon the most formative times of her past. She plunges headfirst into her childhood in her latest, most intimate album yet, Home Video. Many of the songs refer to Dacus’ hometown of Richmond, Virginia, the United States.

“I love Richmond,” Dacus told to The Jakarta Post on July 27, “but sometimes it’s not easy to love,” she added. Taking her time to do interviews on a tour bus, she expressed her genuine love for, as well as frustration with, her childhood city, which became the basis of Home Video, released on June 25 on US indie label Matador Records.

“I think, since [Richmond] is a really small town, some people get frustrated with how small it is and get bitter or have big egos for no reason,” she said.

As an introduction to the lives of the people the album explores, the music video for its lead single “Hot & Heavy” finds Dacus coming back to the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, reunited with her friends and families as they watch home video footage of little Dacus together on screen. “Being back here makes me hot in the face,” Dacus sings, opening the floodgate of memories she has held dearly for a long time. In fact, some of the songs were years in the making.