Voyager, led by Phoebe Bridgers, calls back to Moon Song from her 2020 release, Punisher, in the lyric, "Walkin' alone in the city / Makes me feel like a man on the moon / Every small step I took was so easy / But I never imagined a dot quite as pale or as blue,” while referencing the Voyager 1 spacecraft and the photo it took in 1990 of the Earth, called Pale Blue Dot. Bridgers reminds us just how insignificant we may be about the celestial. This extraterrestrial imagery resurfaces in Julien Baker's leading track, Powers, where Baker details a poetic tale of destruction and reconstruction in the form of an origin story, "How did it start? Did I fall into a nuclear reactor? / Crawl out with acid skin or somethin' worse / A hostile alien ambassador?" Lucy Dacus' striking contribution to the EP is found on the track Afraid of Heights, where she utilizes her characteristic theme of existentialism accompanied by the presence of an unstable counterpart who tries to waver her sense of rationality, prompting lyrics like, "I wanna live a vibrant life / But I wanna die a boring death."

the rest brings its listener to a sonic and thematic outer space, leaving them suspended in gravity to contemplate mortality, love, and the self. With outstanding solo careers, boygenius' collaborative efforts are somehow greater than the sum of their parts, as if some cosmic forces conspired to bring them together. 

The first track, September, is all about new beginnings and leaving an unfulfilling situation for something better, ironic considering the tracks that follow. The chorus foreshadows the revelation of the consequences of idealization, “Gotta stop admin' for "forever” / Gotta put an end to this". As the anxiety of the situation becomes more prevalent on the third track, Guestlist, the production grows to surround the vocals in a mindscape of simulated chaos. Gregson-Macleod remarks on the absurdity of dating as a performer in a self-referential quip, “And I'll watch from afar as it all plays out / Get you both on the guest list and just not mention / What all those songs are about”. The production strips down again to a piano backing on the following track, TV Show, as she recounts the breakup call that ultimately ended the relationship. Even in this profoundly bleak moment, Gregson-Macleod’s biting lyrics have a cleverness to them, “Did you bite your tongue? / Did you really have to go? / 'Cause the call was shorter than the bus ride home”. 

On Big Red, Gregson-Macleod persists in her aptitude for witty and diaristic lyrics, her introspective nature making every gut-wrenching lyric into a punchline. She has recaptured the charm of her previous EP with the presence of a new and atmospheric production style to anticipate on a debut album.