A Recipe for Healing with Phoebe Bridgers
When I first discovered Phoebe Bridgers in 2019 I was going through a tough time – having trouble getting through each day, not even being able to open a door without a wave of anxiety. At this point, I was struggling with derealisation, feeling as if nothing around me was real. Music has a healing power, and Phoebe Bridgers’ honest lyrics brought me back to a grounded reality. I knew that I wasn’t alone in a world that felt so alien. I’m a devout Spotify user, with Premium being the only thing that I actually spend any money on, and I am one-hundred-percent certain that it can read my body signals. Stranger in the Alps, Bridgers’ first full-length album, popped up on my homepage and took me on an emotional journey that I will never forget. Now gaining more traction than ever, nominated for Best New Artist at the 2021 Grammy’s, you might be seeing her name everywhere. So, I’ve written your step-by-step guide to enjoying your Phoebe Bridgers experience.
Phoebe Bridgers is an American singer-songwriter. She started out on the Los Angeles indie music scene, playing various cover shows. Eventually, she signed to Dead Oceans (the label of both Khruangbin and Japanese Breakfast), releasing her debut LP Stranger in the Alps in 2017. I was a little bit late to the party, but nevertheless it stands as one of the strongest debut LPs that I’ve ever listened to.
Time to make: 1 hour 22 minutes
Serves: 5,068,822 monthly Spotify listeners (and counting)
You will need:
1 Phoebe Bridgers (preferably wearing a skeleton costume)
800g of melancholic vocals
650g of deep lyrical perspective
500g of hauntingly beautiful melodies
350g of gut-wrenching guitar
A sprinkle of dark humour
Lots of tissues
Step One
Start off with “Smoke Signals” for a gentle easing-in. The song itself has a hazy feel, with its anxiety-soothing melodies and soft guitar. However, it’s Phoebe’s foggy and cloudy vocals that will slowly drift into your mind and take over. One particularly alluring factor of her music is her lyrical honesty, drawing from real and raw personal experiences. This song is no exception, drawing inspiration from her past relationship with her drummer Marshall Vore. “I am a concrete wall”, the final lyric of this moving track, has always resonated with me. We can all relate to feeling completely emotionless and isolated at one point.
Step Two
Listen to the rest of Stranger in the Alps. From start to finish. No breaks. Just lie on your bed, with the curtains open as you stare at the night sky for the optimum listening session (yes, I am speaking from personal experience). The album takes you on a dreamy journey and leaves you with that I-just-finished-crying-for-hours-and-now-it’s-3am feeling after the final song cuts your heart open.
Tracks from this album that stand out include “Motion Sickness,” “Scott Street” and “Georgia.” “Motion Sickness,” arguably Phoebe’s most well-known song, explores a relationship of emotional abuse and heartbreak that will grip you and shake you from the inside out. Musically, the track is far more drum-heavy than any other, meaning that you can blast it out whilst you embark on an aggressively-stompy walk in the rain. Also, the song was co-produced by Ethan Gruska (now a solo artist), who is one half of The Belle Brigade and featured on The Twilight Saga soundtrack - Phoebe Bridgers does look like one of the Cullens. Gruska has a knack for heartbreaking sounds, and can clearly be seen throughout the first album from The Belle Brigade. “Punchline”, also produced by Gruska, combines melodic strings with a heartbroken voice lamenting over their “own lonesome tears”, much like Bridgers and her “emotional motion sickness”.
Step Three
It’s time to move on to Punisher, Bridgers’ latest studio album, released in June 2020 amidst the chaos of the pandemic. Whilst keeping the fundamental elements of Phoebe, it’s distinctly different from its predecessor. It’s darker, more mature, yet doesn’t lose the dreamy feel. Punisher has received a variety of acclamations, including a Grammy nomination for “Kyoto” in the Best Rock Song category. “Kyoto” is a track that stands out from the rest of the collection. Surprisingly upbeat for a song that perfectly describes what impostor syndrome feels like - “I wanted to go, but I didn’t”. It’s somewhat happier than the rest, and even better when listening to the live version - singing from a messy bed, with the original guitar instrumental scrapped and replaced with an eerie yet mesmerising violin. The emotion is truly raw in her voice, even more so than the original.
Step Four
It’s time for the deep cuts – “Kyoto” barely scratches the surface with the contents of Punisher. Begin with “Garden Song”: its soothing melodies and quiet harmonies will lull you to sleep in no time. Fun fact, the male voice in the track is that of her tour manager, Jeroen Vrijhoef. Ease into “Saviour Complex” (which is my personal favourite). A beautiful song to listen to, to cry to and also to play if you know your way around a guitar. The lyrics weave Bridgers’ coping with her relationship with herself into the idea of struggling to face personal problems. It should be played in the middle of the night when you’ve just woken up from a dream, ideally. Finally, take a step into the post-apocalyptic void of “I Know The End.” Words can’t describe exactly how this song will make you feel, but it will take you from lows to highs in a matter of seconds. The folk ballad closes the album, leaving you with this unsettled feeling, and yet weirdly at peace. Bridgers sews in references to the current American social climate and capitalism - “a slaughterhouse, an outlet mall” commenting on the exploitation of workers in sweatshops. The song ends the song with the suggestion that the world is about to end. A mouthful. But a good one. There is no better way to end a Phoebe Bridgers album.
Leave yourself cool for ten minutes.
Extra tips for the best result:
Better Oblivion Community Centre.
If you love Bridgers’ voice, but crave a slightly more upbeat path of indie rock after the emotional rollercoaster of her solo albums, add a sprinkle of Better Oblivion Community Centre. The duo consists of Phoebe herself and Connor Oberst (you might recognise him from Bright Eyes). They only have one self titled album, but it is well worth the listen. Highlights include “Exception to the Rule,” “Service Road” and “Dylan Thomas.”
Boygenius
The holy trinity. Alongside fellow indie singer-songwriters Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, the Boygenius EP was born. A distinctly different feel from her solo work and Better Oblivion Community Centre, but it still keeps the authenticity that runs throughout. Acoustically brilliant and lyrically beautiful. Highlights include “Bite the Hand,” “Salt in the Wound” and “Me & My Dog.”
The music of Phoebe Bridgers serves not only as blissful enjoyment and musical mastery, but also a tool for healing. Both Stranger in the Alps and Punisher present you with effortlessly relatable lyrics with a strong undertone of comforting sound. They helped me at my lowest points, making me feel as if someone was standing next to me and telling me everything was going to be okay – she had been through it and I would get through it too. Bridgers may be a jack-of-all-musical-trades, but her most special skill of all is the power to heal.
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Image by Frank Ockenfels