Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Review)

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Review)
6/20/20




Female folk-pop icon Phoebe Bridgers wowed me with her latest singles that were intended for a new album, particularly her song "Kyoto", which made it onto my top 20 songs of all time within nearly a week. I've been hyped for this album ever since she announced it with said song. Today, we will finally be reviewing this album. Note that I have not had much time to listen to it and take it in yet, but my hopes thus far are quite high; mainly because of the singles. Phoebe Bridgers also has some amazing talent and a beautiful style; both of which I want and expect from this project.


First we see the eerie and instrumental track "DVD Menu", which actually sounds like a DVD menu track. It's pretty dark, orchestral, and definitely not pop music. Right off the bat, I see that just into this little bit of the album, it's dynamics seemed a little messed up. Knowing the pretty sad yet beautiful track "Garden Song" and the powerful ballad "Kyoto" are what this goes into, I'm already a little confused. Nonetheless, thus far, amazing songs. After "Kyoto", we go into the depressing title track which sounds dark and beautiful. This song, I feel, meshes with that introductory song very well, and so does the song after it. Things begin to pick up towards the end of the slightly more unique "Chinese Satellite", with a great big breakdown and great harmonies. This song spices up my personal listening experience while still staying true to the very sad and mellow vibe of the album. Up to here in the album, the grand song "Kyoto" comes off a little out of place with the rest of the album. I can't say that it doesn't fit, because it certainly does, but its general style and dynamics are much different.


After this comes "Moon Song", that takes us back to the mellow and sad yet beautiful tracks four and five. The song stays consistently beautiful with the instrumentals, but Phoebe's tone of voice and the vocals complimenting it shift to become a little more intense. This sounds different and a little more unique; something I look forward to more of. Next comes "Savior Complex" and another one of the singles "I See You", or in this album "ICU". This song finally picks up a little more like "Kyoto". This just feels very good yet hard to explain why. Afterwards comes some unique, and honestly comforting, bluegrass style music. Of course, this is still very slow and mellow like the rest of the album. Finally, we find ourselves at the outro; yet another sweet, little beautiful song. This may not be my favorite song from the album, but it's definitely the most interesting. It ends with the beautiful and immersive breakdown I was hoping for. Around the 4:50 mark, the song descends into something of chaos, yet seems to end eerily and smoothly with who I think is Phoebe breathing into your ears.


Going over this album's bad qualities first, every song felt a little bit repetitive together. Particularly the abundance of very slow and mellow songs. The couple of big and grand moments are great, but just not enough to give this album enough spicing up. Otherwise, this is a perfect album; the lyrics are wowing, the instrumentals never get old, etc. I could honestly go on and on for days about how great this album is, but I don't have that much time to write. My favorite track still remains "Kyoto" for reasons you'll understand when you listen to it. If I had to choose, my least favorite track would be "Halloween", just because it feels a little to glued to the style of the albums repetitive tracks. Giving this album a 1-10 using half numbers, I give this album a 7.5/10 with a five-word description of: “repetition nudges it from perfect".


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