Phoebe Bridgers
Garden Song
Dead Oceans
After the release of her stunning debut album Stranger In The Alps in 2017, Phoebe Bridgers was so in demand that she found herself in two other bands. boygenius was a quickly compiled experiment that had 6 songs in the can before they could blink. Bridgers then released a ‘surprise’ album with Conor Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center. Garden Song is the first tune to surface from her upcoming sophomore album.
Bridgers has a knack for finding the beauty in the darkness and Garden Song continues her craft. Lyrically Garden Song, has a skinhead neighbour that goes missing, a house on a hill that burns down with only the notches in the doorframe remaining and a flatbed truck with roses glued to it. The psyche of Bridgers is a fertile beast.
There is finger-picked guitar, a subdued chorus, tape hiss and a droning loop that hints at Bridgers further experimenting with her tonal colours. Backing vocals provided by her tour manager are inserted sparingly to add to the haunting feel of a tune that is somewhere between murder ballad, horror story and a dreamy tale of nostalgia.
There are few that can match Bridgers for lyrical content at the moment. Make no mistake, Phoebe Bridgers is one of the most exciting artists in her generation of songwriters.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
