Review: Phoebe Bridgers — Lost Weekend

Phoebe Bridgers
Lost Weekend
Dead Oceans
Street: 08.13.2026
Phoebe Bridgers = Joni Mitchell + Elliott Smith + Alanis Morissette

Phoebe Bridgers has transcended sad girl rock and it-girl status into icon-level love with a fan base that has found their Joni Mitchell. “She gave us a gift,” Taylor Swift said about Bridgers’ new album, “to write about grief with such vulnerability and detail and to trust the listener with this much honesty.” Swift sums up Bridgers’ beautiful album perfectly.

On her third solo album, Lost Weekend, Bridgers has delivered an American beauty of confessional poetry that will rank up there with Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Carole King’s Tapestry and Liz Phair‘s Exile In Guyville. To push out further the company Bridgers is in, Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black and of course, Taylor Swift’s Red.

Bridgers is not just standing on the shoulders of giants; she is standing firmly on the ground where her own feet are. She is a giant on her own terms and in her own time. Bridgers is no longer hiding underneath a sheet like a ghost or creeping around in skeleton pajamas. Bridgers is on the Mt. Rushmore of 21st-century singer-songwriters.

“Why don’t you sing me to sleep,” Bridgers sings in a hushed voice that travels over her lush landscapes like smoke. “I know you’d never think about jumping / But do it for me.” Bridgers is in love here, but it won’t last in the suffocating and isolating experience of the track “The Governor’s Waltz,” a haunting love song that arcs and unravels. With “So let’s see how long we can go without talking / Watch me pretend to sleep” and “Now, let’s see how far I can run without stopping / And she can pretend to be me,” the arc is complete.

Nobody writes relationship crashes better than Phoebe Bridgers. She can take the euphoria of falling in love and flip it to the pain, anxiety and emptiness of loss. “I was the belle of the Governor’s ball / Hiding in the bathroom like Shelley Duvall.” The track sails away with intricate acoustic guitars, piano and soft, subtle string arrangements. 

The track “Bobby” is a straight-up love song, and Bridgers brings out the electric guitars and murder plots. “And if you don’t like either one of my friends / I’d kill them. I’d kill them,”  Phoebe sings, more casual than threatening. The track plays out like Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours-era, fucked-up-love vibe tied up in complicated, frayed-out knots. “We’ve got stars on the ceiling and clothes on the floor / And a thing in a box I don’t touch anymore.”

For the release of Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers held listening parties nationwide at planetariums. I attended one of these listening parties at Clark Planetarium in SLC. It was an emotional ride. The track “Never Going Back” broke me. With a hard-played acoustic guitar, a sea shanty-style rhythm and repeated lyrics, it was the outro that wrecked me. Spoken by Tony Bridgers, Phoebe’s dad: “Hey Phoebe, it’s your dad / uh, I know you’re busy / being a rock star takes up a lot of your time, I’m guessing / Hahaha, you’re everywhere, dude / Anyway, give me a call if you get a chance / Love you.” Tony Bridgers passed away January 3, 2023.

Every song on this record is a heart wrench that drags the listener across the gravel road of love, loss and forgiveness. With all the creators left behind, it’s dealing with fame in the era of disillusionment and all the beat-to-hell bricks scattered around to try and find new ways to rebuild. —Russ Holsten

Read more music reviews by Russ Holsten:
Review: Olivia Rodrigo — you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love
Review: Flea — Honora

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