Phoebe Bridgers released her third studio album, Lost Weekend, after a six-year break from her solo music career. In between albums, Bridgers spent time in the band boygenius with her two closest collaborators, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. Fans across the globe have anxiously awaited Bridgers’ solo return with the release of 16 captivating tracks.
Lost Weekend is Bridgers’ most honest work yet. With themes of grief, heartbreak, change, and acceptance, the 32-year-old singer-songwriter weaves a tapestry of complex feelings through her music. There is a certain vibe she has created for herself throughout her career. Bridgers is the self-proclaimed sad girl who isn’t trying to hurt your feelings, but ends up doing so anyway. Her expression of big feelings through lyrics that gut punch you should come as no surprise, but they do, because although Lost Weekend slips into place alongside her debut and sophomore albums, it radiates novelty; a new era begins for Bridgers as she steps back into the spotlight on her own time.
With a dream list of collaborators on this album, artists such as Cameron Winter, Jack Antonoff, Christian Lee Hutson, Dacus, Baker, Alex G, and more came together to help create Lost Weekend. Even her dog, Maxine, is credited as a vocalist on the closing track, “Lost Weekend (Reprise).” This team helped foster a space that allowed Bridgers to deliver some of her most layered work, full of sincerity and emotional depth. The level of vulnerability it takes for Bridgers to write, record, and release a song such as “Still Standing” is no easy task. Bridgers provided explanations and analyses of her songs in great detail, but for this track, she simply stated, “This song is about my dad, who I miss very much.”
“Crying in a suit and tie/But you should see the other guy.”
Bridgers’ father passed away in 2023 and her complicated grief is apparent throughout the record. Previously hiding behind an upbeat melody in 2020 on “Kyoto,” Bridgers stated about her father, “I’m gonna kill you/If you don’t beat me to it.” “Still Standing” takes a heavier approach to their relationship, noting implications of his addiction and abuse on her and her family. She sings, “I can’t imagine you dead/But you are every day.” His voice can be heard at the end of “Never Going Back!” in a voicemail he left for Bridgers. Along with all of this woe comes some of the most crushing dad jokes about his death on “The Outside,” reminding listeners that even when you write lyrics as devastating as “Sometimes I want you back/But not today,” or “He’s not coming back as a bird/He’s not coming back,” remember you have to be able to dance through the darkness in a “depression can’t hit a moving target” kind of way.
“Our love had other plans for us.”
An interesting element at play on the record is Bridgers’ connection to relationships past and present. Bridgers was engaged to actor Paul Mescal in 2022 before the relationship soon ended altogether. The curtain is peeled back on the inner workings of the breakup, with Bridgers claiming on the album’s title track, “I’m supposed to be married/But I called it off.” She alludes to the end of her relationship with Mescal that may have gone on longer than it should’ve in “The Governor’s Waltz,” singing, “Let’s see how long we can go without talking.” Fans have speculated this track is about Mescal’s new relationship with vaguely similar, yet oh-so-different, indie-pop artist Gracie Abrams, who may or may not be “pretending” to be her.
Many songs on the album lean towards the traditionalist folk genre with a cosmic, ambient undertone, best on display on “Haunted.” Bridgers has never shied away from a spooky, astrological theme, incorporating satellites, the moon, aliens, and ghosts in visuals throughout the album rollout and her career overall (see “Moon Song” and “Chinese Satellite,” off of Punisher). Lost Weekend thrives sonically, from full compositions to stripped-down instrumental interludes. The incorporation of strings, harmonicas, and acoustic guitars aids in the album’s cohesion and adhesion to Bridgers’ continuous aesthetics. Climactic buildups in songs such as “Lost Weekend” give the rock edge channeled in Bridgers’ infamous Saturday Night Live performance.
“This could be the end of wanting.”
Bridgers’ relationship with Bo Burnham, another collaborator on this album, is spotlighted on track five “Bobby.” She also refers to him in “Kill Me” (“Bobby you taught me that I know nothing”) and “Liberty Tree” (“Don’t die, Bobby, before I die”). Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the album encapsulate just how “Bobby” has helped keep her grounded through turbulent changes and immense grief in her life. It’s refreshing for fans of Bridgers to hear a song from her about her happiness in a relationship in comparison to albums full of songs about relationships that made her feel empty and unwanted. The song is tracking to be one of the most streamed on the album.
Lost Weekend is nothing short of exemplary. Bridgers and her team absolutely knocked it out of the park, making the six year wait all worthwhile. This album is a huge triumph for Bridgers with some of her best vocal performances to date showcased on tracks like “As Above.”
Bridgers is set to embark on The Lost Tour on Sept. 16, 2026, continuing to share her gift of music at phone-free shows around the world.