i was fucking around with extra pizza dough and made garlic knots and the owner of the restaurant i work at came in with his kids and their partners and they were trying pizza and they tried the garlic knots and apparently asked where they were in the menu i feel like im in so much danger right now
as promised, my semi-coherent, song by song review of phoebe's new album, with lots of comparisons to things it reminded me of, regardless of if it actually sounds like them. am currently also on the waiting list for tickets to her london show on monday so fingers crossed for that.
she released this on the perfect day ngl bc my chronic illness symptom tracking app gave me 1/5 stability today and i was feeling it and i had a 3 hour car journey so plenty of time to sit and listen and think.
also my qualifications for this are (checks notes) by music gcse which was by far my worst gcse
the outside - immediately hit by the robot voice and i didn't like it so much but it's growing on me. it's like partner in crime by lucy dacus which i didn't love the autotune on at first but now i really like that song. also it's reminiscent of motion sickness ("i'm on the outside, watching" vs "i'm on the outside looking through")
lost boys - the acoustic version is much more what i expected from this song, and i think it's my preferred version but i love this version too. it has trumpets, a key change and phoebe screaming. all great things for music. it's a shame the video game bit at the end of the music video isn't a part of the actual song. i liked how it represented a successful escape from real there and it sounded really charming.
kill me - her boys are getting married (cuts to me sobbing over the bullseye performance). this is a song that is going to feature heavily on people's instagram notes when uni starts again. python and c++ are gonna kill me. when the distortion comes in it reminds me of something but i haven't placed what yet. it could be another of her songs (maybe i know the end?) or it could be something unrelated lol.
the governor's waltz - waltzes have such a fun interesting sound and i think more people should right them. initial listen puts this top 2 songs on the album with haunted. i love the fairytale feel of the chorus. it feels like it could carry you away.
bobby - it's loud and it has a banjo. i love loud phoebe songs. the way they contrast the softer songs works really well. the sound of the song reminds me of big black heart off better oblivion community center.
lost weekend - despite being the titular track, i don't have much to say. i like it. it's very quintessential phoebe lyricism but i don't have much more to say.
haunted - this is peak phoebe vocals and peak boygenius backing vocals. i love the way phoebe uses different instruments in her music. earlier we had a trumpet and now we have a violin too. and looking at the credits for the album, a lot, lot more instruments. this makes me nostalgic for a certain period of my music listening life but i can't place when that was.
panorama - as above (haha see what i did there) there's fun use of instruments, with the clarinet. this song is very twinkly and it was good to listen to while in the back of my dad's car driving through the peak district (he start talking about how he'd done a really good hill start in the middle of it tho lol). it reminds me a little of the boygenius cover of the parting glass when the vocals initially come in.
still standing - this is peak sad phoebe.
liberty tree - the intro reminds me of the intro to road to joy by bright eyes. "don't die bobby before I die, it feels so good to have you in my life" are you trying to kill me. this lyric was made to stab me in the heart with how much i play be careful with yourself by julia jacklin on repeat.
never going back! - this is another song that is going to get mileage on people's instagram notes.
other plans - i love the opening lines. the contrast between a really grand statement and a mundane, trivial issue scratches my brain. i can't think of another example but i'm pretty sure she has done this at other times, and other songs i love by other people have as well. i read the genius page and it didn't say anything like this but i wonder if this song is about when she got an abortion, especially considering the subject matter of as above.
lost parade - i initially wrote it sounded like revolution 0 but it's definitely more graceland too.
i can't wait - i love when phoebe sings at the lower end of her range. it creates a really nice contrast when she moves to her higher range. i like the harmonica. also, i like when there's a backing vocalist i don't immediately recognise (turns out it's cameron winter who i haven't really listened to anything from). also, love the jekyll and hyde references.
as above - i almost cried at the "i thought about my mother driving herself to the hospital" and also at the afraid of heights reference. again, as above, i love when phoebe's songs get loud.
lost weekend (reprise) - this is the distilled essence of a phoebe bridgers song.
