Phoebe Bridgers

Since 2014 · United States

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Punisher (2020)

Punisher builds on the hushed folk-rock of Bridgers's debut with denser, more orchestral arrangements that still leave room for her conversational, deadpan delivery. "Kyoto" pairs a genuinely upbeat horn arrangement with a lyric about a strained relationship with her father, the mismatch between sound and subject becoming the song's whole point. "I Know the End" builds slowly from acoustic guitar into a full-band scream, the album's emotional release saved for its very last minutes. It's a record that treats irony and sincerity as compatible rather than opposed.

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Phoebe Bridgers

Punisher · 2020

Phoebe Bridgers released her debut, Stranger in the Alps, in 2017 to immediate acclaim for its combination of hushed, reverb-heavy folk-rock and lyrics that moved between dark humor and open grief, often within the same line. She quickly became one of the most collaborative figures in contemporary indie music, forming the duo Better Oblivion Community Center with Conor Oberst and the trio boygenius with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, alongside her solo work.

Punisher (2020) expanded her sound with denser, sometimes orchestral arrangements while keeping the plainspoken, conversational lyricism of her debut, and its release during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic gave several of its songs about isolation and dread an unplanned additional resonance. Bridgers has become one of the most widely cited influences among younger confessional songwriters working in the years since.