Lost Weekend. Phoebe Bridgers

Although this is only Phoebe Bridgers' third solo effort, she is around for about ten years and as a part of boygenius she has become perhaps even more famous. For my part, I have not been convinced of her solo work, and neither of her two colleagues, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. boygenius did go down well though. So here is Lost Weekend and what do I think?

Recently, I saw a video podcast about 'Revolver', posing that it was the album that set the standard for recording techniques for all that was to come. Listening to all the effects used on Lost Weekend, it shows that the narrator was more than right. Of course, the studio and in many cases a laptop can do a hundredfold more than the 'EMI studio', as it was called then, was capable of in the spring of 1966. Phoebe Bridgers makes use of it all and successfully so.

For the first time, I am sucked into her album almost from the start, despite the electronic start of the album and her vocoder recorded voice. Let's face it, it is a bit weird to return as a solo artist and distancing yourself from your listeners as Phoebe Bridgers does on 'The Outsiders'. And yet, she caught me immediately with the song. Something I cannot explain to you. She didn't the first time around with 'Lost Boys', the most popular and second song on Lost Weekend. That has changed by now. I even find myself singing 'Lost Boys' in my head. From what I've read, is that Ms. Bridgers did want to put distance between the world, her fans and herself for some time. After boygenius went on hiatus, she took her time to figure her next step and her life out. Blood goes where it needs to go though as singer-songwriter and that is all that matters for the listener of Lost Weekend. Does the title refer to John Lennon's lost weekend in L.A., that lasted for about a year?

If anything, Phoebe Bridgers is at the top of her game with Lost Weekend. Somewhere between modernism, singer-songwriter and folk she invites her listeners to pay attention to her music. That starts with the electronics of 'The Outsiders' and the more lush arrangements in the first half of the album. Much is made by others on the two sides to this album. The second half is perhaps more elementary where the arrangements are concerned, the atmosphere of Lost Weekend does not significantly change. In that sense, it is an album, as one piece of work.

That one piece includes the at times personal lyrics in contrast with the at times aloof presentation in the music. That must be a very conscious choice by Phoebe Bridgers. Show and hide and let the listeners take care of themselves. They always do anyway, reading in lyrics what it is they get out of it. To me it seems the most difficult for a singer to do, writing lyrics that you may have to sing for decades to come. Fans demand it, while you may not want to, as things change in lives.

Coming late to the Phoebe Bridgers party, it does make me wonder if I have missed something on 'Somewhere In The Alps' and 'Punisher' that I did not or was not able to hear in 2017 and 2020. It may be time to take a re-listen. Lost Weekend goes down quite well and so did boygenius for most of the songs. Not to forget Phoebe Bridgers' contributions to the last two The National albums. So, who knows where I will wind up.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Lost Weekend here:

https://phoebebridgers.bandcamp.com/album/lost-weekend