Album Review: Lost Weekend

The cover of Phoebe Bridgers' newest album, Lost Weekend.

Six years. Or 2,190 days. That’s the length of time between Phoebe Bridgers’ last two solo album releases. Phoebe, a singer-songwriter-producer, has been releasing music since the late 2010s. Releasing her previous two solo bodies of work, “Strangers in the Alps” (released in 2017) & “Punisher” (released in 2020 during the pandemic). Although there is that six-year gap, she did keep her name floating around. Being coined a “serial collaborator,” she appeared on various albums including SZA, Taylor Swift, Kid Cudi and more. In 2023, she would partner with singers Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to release the project “The Record” under the group name of boygenius, which would receive high critical acclaim before the band entered an indefinite hiatus in 2024. Fast forward a couple more years, Phoebe would begin doing surprise pop-up shows across the United States and would release the album’s lead and only single, “Lost Boys,” on June 24. The album would hit its planned release date of Aug. 14.

I have personally been a fan of Phoebe’s for a while. “Motion Sickness” is my comfort song and has been for years. So, you can only imagine my excitement to hear that the six-year hiatus would be broken. Upon my first few listens, I can honestly say this is the best-produced album to have been released this year as it stands. It sonically just sounds so clean, and the sounds and genre influences are just so perfectly chosen. Thematically, the album talks about love, grief and disillusionment from fame. With a runtime a little bit less than an hour long, it remains concise and yet so full and complete. Her songwriting was already a strength of hers, and she somehow found a way to get even better with this new album. “The Outside” is the intro of the album, and its electronica-inspired sound just catches your attention immediately. And then you realize that the song is about grieving and the dissociation that comes with that. On that track, she says, “Crying in a suit and tie, But you should see the other guy, One more time for old time's sake, I’ll watch him get carried away.” On “The Governor’s Waltz,” she talks about her previous relationship that began and ended during those six years over a beautiful piano-led melody. The song following, “Bobby,” is about her current relationship and, in turn, has this beautiful energetic sound and an amazing guitar riff added to the folk-like sound. A contrast that seems so simple but is so perfect.

There are two massive standouts for me: “Still Standing” (Track 9) and “As Above” (Track 15). “Still Standing” covers her complicated relationship with her father, reminiscing on moments from her past whilst feeling conflicted about where she currently stands. The chorus gives the thought process of the song “But I am still standing, At the top of the stairs, turning red. Pound for pound in a prom dress, You try to make me afraid, We were both shining, Feeling indifferent, wearing black. Sometimes I want you back, but not today.” And the line that almost makes you cry at the end of the song: “I can’t imagine you dead, but you are every day. Thank you for everything”. Gut-wrenching. Having the reality of grief set in whilst remaining thankful for the positives that happened. And the vocals at the end almost sounding choir-Esque are just top-notch.

As Above, the penultimate track on the album, talks a lot about Phoebe coming to terms with her mortality whilst also talking about grief and love. The song’s title is a play on the spiritual phrase “As above, so below,” which expresses the idea that the larger universe and human life reflect one another. The song is backed by a beautiful piano melody. Throughout the song, Bridgers pairs large or distant images, like planes, Air Force One and heights, with intimate thoughts about pregnancy, her mother, mortality and the future. The chorus gives those contrasts a more significant meaning that suggests the external world and her inner life are reflecting each other. Within the bridge, she shows her love is beyond the idea of the fictitious stories and that she will make it work; “Whatever happens after, it doesn't matter. You won't have to believe in magic, Leave it to me and I'll make it happen”. To find a way to tie it all back to love in the end is such a beautiful decision and wraps the album up quite well alongside the final track “Lost Weekend (Reprise).”

In its totality, this is easily one of the strongest releases of the year, where Phoebe re-establishes herself as one of the best artists of our generation.

My favorite songs from the album would include: “The Outside,” “Bobby,” “Still Standing,” “Never Going Back” and “As Above.”