Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:42 minutes | 813 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dead Oceans

Phoebe Bridgers has said she’s a huge Elliott Smith fan—the name Punisher is a reference to an overzealous admirer, and the title track is about her love of the late singer-songwriter. You can hear his influence all over the album: the heartbreaking pathways of “Savior Complex”; the melody that drops down when you expect ascension on “Moon Song.” But while Smith’s lyrics could be clever, Bridgers’ wordplay is unique. “The doctor put her hands over my liver/ She told me my resentment’s getting smaller,” she sings on “Garden Song.” Not that she needs to hide behind jokes: “I’ve been running around in circles, pretending to be myself/Why would somebody do this on purpose when they could do something else?” she asks on “Chinese Satellite,” the quiet instruments of the verses eventually erupting as if to shadow her feelings. There are other shadows at play, too: a male harmony haunting her light-as-air vocals on “Garden Song” and the otherwise ethereal “Halloween,” and the specter of her father—she’s spoken of his substance-abuse issues—darkening the lyrics of “Kyoto” even as Mellotron and amiable ’90s drums provide aural sunshine. – Shelly Ridenour

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