S.Lo on February 2nd, 2018

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A thoughtful contemplation on the comforts of past relationships and why we hold on to them — be it while “awake at 2 a.m. without a cause to draw you in” or “just calling ’cuz I’m used to it, you’ll pick up ’cuz you’re not a quitter”— “Addictions” is the second single from Lucy Dacus’ sophomore album “Historian,” due March 2 via Matador Records.

The video (directed by Dacus, filmed and edited by David Muessig) stars Bethany Allen carrying a large red frame throughout her home and environs, Dacus’ hometown of Richmond, Va., as both a literal and metaphorical view to the past. Dacus appears almost as a ghost of the past in corners of Allen’s wanderings, like the corners of memories we constantly revisit when retreating to the familiar.

After her 2016 breakout album, “No Burden,” and touring heavily to support it, Dacus shaped the songs of “Historian” into a narrative arc covering themes such as facing adversity, political unrest, the death of her grandmother and creative burnout. “It starts out dark and ends hopeful, but it gets darker in between; it goes to the deepest, darkest, place and then breaks,” Dacus explains. “What I’m trying to say throughout the album is that hope survives, even in the face of the worst stuff.”

||| Watch: The video for “Addictions”

||| Also: Stream “Night Shift”

||| Live: Lucy Dacus plays March 22 at the Teragram Ballroom, along with And the Kids and Adult Mom. Tickets.