Phoebe Bridgers is the type of artist who wants you to know all of her deepest, darkest secrets. And this girl’s got all of it for show in her music. She sings about killing Nazis, killing her father, her obsession with rock artist Elliott Smith, and many other “fun” activities.
My personal obsession with Bridgers started with her Reunion Tour. I knew little about her when I bought concert tickets besides little things such as her obsession with skeletons and the lyrics to her hit song, “Motion Sickness,” but it was my turn to buy concert tickets for my friend and I found this to be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the adored indie artist.
When Bridgers came out for the show, she played WWE music and had metal-esque visuals. Yet, her music had an indie-folk vibe to it. And perhaps, this is what I love about her. Unafraid to sing about the strange things and play with different aesthetics, Bridgers has been one of my favorite artists for the past few years. In fact, if you have seen me on Halloween, you may have seen me in my matching Phoebe Bridgers skeleton sweat set, with my Build-A-Bear frog in his skeleton fit. His name is “Kyoto,” after Bridgers’ song on her sophomore album, “Punisher”.
But someone once told me that you shouldn’t bring personal narratives into arguments. Instead, I will state objectively good reasons for Phoebe Bridgers to make it onto your playlist.
If you like skeletons or ghosts — or “Ghost in The Machine” by SZA feat. Phoebe Bridgers, listen to her. If you like to support girlidiots, or boygeniuses, check out Phoebe Bridgers. If you like to feel like a rockstar while listening to slow music, or you love being sad, Phoebe Bridgers is for you.
But these descriptions of Phoebe Bridgers that I provide for you are not the greatest example of the worldly atmospheres that Bridgers creates through her music. She writes about many topics in her music. Throughout her debut album, “Stranger in The Alps,” Bridgers writes about intimacy in songs such as “Demi Moore,” a song about substance-induced sexting, and emotional rawness and honesty in “Funeral,” a song about Bridgers’ emotional toll and its selfishness after a friend’s death. In her sophomore album “Punisher,” Bridgers writes about obsessive fandom and her relationship to it through her obsession with Elliott Smith in title track, “Punisher.” In addition, Bridgers writes about depression and the apocalypse in “I Know the End,” a great song to scream along to.
All in all, Phoebe Bridgers is the indie artist you should be looking out for, dead or alive. With her whimsical song creation and ability to curate such stories through her music, she could be the artist you need in your musical rotation.