PHOEBE BRIDGERS Punisher
Dead Oceans/Rhythmethod
(Photo credit: Frank Ockenfels)
Already heralded as one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year, 25-year old singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has today released her sophomore solo album, Punisher.
“atmospheric indie with an undercurrent of anxiety”.
NME, Punisher 5* review
“one of the year’s most beautiful records so far; a poignant tribute to life’s twists and turns”.
The Forty-Five, Punisher 5* review
“A masterpiece in mood setting, the apocalyptic Punisher aches with sadness, but Bridgers doesn’t wallow. … The end of the world rarely sounds this good”
Q Magazine
“Punisher is a dazzling record, one filled with sadness but not overwhelmingly so, full of moments that sting the first time you hear them but burrow deeper into the soul with each listen.”
Consequence of Sound
Bridgers released her debut album in 2017 as a relatively unknown singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles. A little over two years later, she’s become an internationally lauded musician with three acclaimed bodies of work to her name: her solo debut, Stranger In The Alps, the boygenius EP with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus in 2018, and Better Oblivion Community Center, a surprise collaboration with Conor Oberst, in 2019.
Bridgers is a singular talent, and also the rare artist with enough humour to deconstruct the tired heuristics of a meteoric rise. Punisher, written and recorded between the summer of 2018 and the fall of 2019, cements her as one of the most irresistibly clever and tenderly prolific songwriters of our era. Returning to work with her Stranger In The Alps collaborators Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska, Bridgers – who co-produced the boygenius EP and Better Oblivion Community Center album – stepped into the role of co-producer for Punisher and has drawn from the same tight-knit group of musicians who appeared on her debut as well as those she has worked with since. The album includes Bridgers’ band of Marshall Vore (drums), Harrison Whitford (guitar), Emily Retsas (bass) and Nick White (piano) as well as performances from Conor Oberst (‘Halloween’, ‘I Know The End’), Lucy Dacus (‘Graceland Too’, ‘I Know The End’), Julien Baker (‘Graceland Too’, ‘I Know The End’), Blake Mills (‘Halloween’, ‘Savior Complex’ and ‘I Know The End’), Jenny Lee Lindberg (‘Kyoto’, ‘ICU’), Christian Lee Hutson (‘Garden Song’, ‘Halloween’, ‘Savior Complex’, ‘I Know The End’), Nick Zinner (‘I Know The End’), legendary drummer Jim Keltner (‘Halloween’ and ‘Savior Complex’) and Bright Eyes’ Nathaniel Walcott on horns (‘Kyoto’ and ‘I Know The End’). Punisher was mixed by Mike Mogis, who also mixed Stranger In The Alps.
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