Rating: 4/5
Phoebe Bridgers’ new record, Lost Weekend, continues her evolution as an artist, remaining relatively mainstream, yet her music reflects an uncompromising originality we don’t see from many major artists today. The songwriting is the standout, along with the perfect tension created by the synths and drum machines that appear alongside banjos and mandolins.
There is a ton of collaboration here, too, with the major production credit going to the well-known Jack Antonoff and the lesser-known but no less talented Ethan Gruska. As well as those two, we have Maya Hawke, Alex G, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Cameron Winter under a different pseudonym (allegedly), and Phoebe’s boyfriend, the comedian Bo Burnham, all making appearances in the credits across the album. The album’s opener, right from the get-go, is a standout, with its vocoded vocals and piano composition. It sets up the album as something familiar while showing where it’s headed, with subtle yet present synths peeking through. Other standout tracks include ‘Bobby’, ‘Lost Weekend’, and ‘I Can’t Wait’. ‘Bobby’, according to Genius, is a track about Bo and Phoebe’s relationship, featuring swelling, abrasive acoustic guitar alongside the banjo, with other stringed instruments later building to a crescendo. ‘Lost Weekend’ is a patient listen, with the payoff being the overwhelming outro that combines seemingly all the sounds of the album and reminds me of ‘Air Stryp’ from Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s collaborative project Big Red Machine. ‘I Can’t Wait’ contains the second Easter egg of the album for Geese fans: the presence of Cameron Winter’s distinct vocals. Though Cameron himself has not confirmed it is him, it is believed he is using the pseudonym Son-John Johnson. Going back to the track itself, ‘I Can’t Wait’ begins with a bassy instrumental that contrasts well with Phoebe’s airy vocals, before moving into a more folk-like second half with Phoebe and Cameron’s vocal harmonies meshing well with a plethora of instruments, including harmonica, cello, upright bass, mandolin, and violin.
All in all, this album has been a very pleasant surprise for me, as someone who has listened to Phoebe’s songs before but never to her albums in full. I also think this album sheds light on the current state of music and shows that we are, in fact, in good hands.
