Lucy Dacus, a songwriter based in Richmond, VA, has released her debut album No Burden via Matador Records. No Burden is full of surprises - sharp lyrical observations, playful turns of musical phrase, hooks that'll embed themselves in your frontal lobe for days.

The most surprising thing about this album might be the fact that it's a debut; it has a keen sense of self about it and it nearly glows from the self-possession held by the woman at its core. Dacus started playing around Richmond while in college, opening for local acts and eventually meeting Jacob Blizard, a guitarist who invited her to make a record for a college project of his.

No Burden, which originally came out in February on the Richmond label EggHunt Records, opens with the forthright, almost brutally honest "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore", the last song Dacus wrote before the album's day-long recording session at Starstruck Studios in Nashville. Dacus delivers scalpel-sharp observations about resisting pigeonholing over chunky guitars, ticking off ideals of femininity and youth until the track's not-quite-resolution.

No Burden is a forthright, disarmingly catchy statement. And while it's a sterling debut, it only hints at the potential possessed by this passionate, thoughtful young woman. LP - With Download.