Phoebe Bridgers releases 'Lost Weekend,' her first album in six years

Phoebe Bridgers released her third solo indie album, Lost Weekend, on August 14 through Dead Oceans, closing a six-year gap since 2020's Punisher, the record that made her one of the most closely watched songwriters of her generation; the album is now logged on the release calendar. In between, she and her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker won three Grammys for their 2023 album The Record, before Bridgers pulled back from public life to work through what NPR's Ann Powers described as the effects of fame, a complicated love life and her father's sudden death; Lost Weekend, spanning 16 tracks, is her account of that period.

The guest list is long: Alex G, Dacus, Baker and Conor Oberst all appear, and the credits also list a Son-John Johnson, who NME and Rolling Stone both report fans and the artist himself have suggested is Geese frontman Cameron Winter, duetting with Bridgers on "I Can't Wait." Powers called the album's production genuinely post-genre, pulling in classical composer Caroline Shaw for vocal arrangements, Blake Mills, American Football's Mike Kinsella, bluegrass group Nickel Creek and pedal steel player Greg Leisz alongside producer Jack Antonoff. Comedian and musician Bo Burnham, Bridgers's partner, holds seven co-writing credits.

Justin Broadrick of the industrial band Godflesh also appears on two songs, "Bobby" and the hidden closing track "Best Dressed," playing guitar in his capacity as the droney shoegaze project Jesu rather than as Godflesh, according to a clarification posted to his own Instagram. Exclaim reported that "Best Dressed," featuring former Black Country, New Road frontman Isaac Wood along with Oberst, Antoff and Jon Brion, sits hidden in the CD's pregap before the first track, playable only by rewinding from the opening song, and at the end of side D on the vinyl edition; the artwork also embosses hidden credits and lyrics for the track.

NPR's review praised the album's nonlinear structure, comparing it to "looking through a scrapbook whose contents keep disintegrating," and noted Bridgers's use of a vintage vocoder, reportedly at Burnham's suggestion, to signal moments of emotional upheaval across songs like the prologue "The Outside." Powers linked the record's grief-driven sound shifts to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak and Sufjan Stevens's confessional work, while noting Bridgers addresses both her father's death and her since-ended relationship with actor Paul Mescal without ever resolving either story neatly.

Bridgers marked the release with a video for "I Can't Wait," directed by Chris Maggio and Pablo Rochat and shot from the perspective of a bug flying over Los Angeles, including the Glendale roller rink where she recently held an album listening party. It follows an earlier video for lead single "Lost Boys" and a run of surprise Tonight Show performances, one alongside young musicians and a second with veteran musicians including Dan Reeder.

She is due to open the Lost Tour on September 15 in Indianapolis, a phoneless run that follows the intimate acoustic shows and Madison Square Garden performance she gave earlier in the year, with stops including Toronto's Scotiabank Arena on October 1 and 2 and Vancouver's Rogers Arena on October 24; fans elsewhere can also experience the album at planetarium listening parties across North America.

After six years split between collaborations and side projects, the deep guest list, the format-specific hidden tracks and the run of surprise performances suggest Bridgers and her collaborators treated Lost Weekend as an event rather than a quiet return.