Remember the era when Phoebe Bridgers was on this website seemingly every day? It's back! Bridgers has been slowly, dramatically building up to the announcement of Lost Weekend, her first new solo album since 2020's Punisher. After a stealthy series of phone-free pop-up shows culminating in a big gig at Madison Square Garden, the boygenius member announced a transcontinental arena tour three weeks back. Wednesday, she revealed the title and Aug. 14 release date for her long-awaited LP. Now we finally get to hear some music from this thing.
"Lost Boys," the new album's lead single, just went live. After a synth-driven feint built around processed vocals, it unfolds into a midtempo folk-rock anthem in Bridgers' distinctive mold. One big distinction: The song strikes a balance between soft and loud that we don't usually hear from her. On the chorus, a grooving bass line and flurries of brass encircle her refrain: "Lost boys never grow up, never go home/ Lost boys never spend their lunch money/ Lost boys never grow up, never get old/ Lost boys find me."
The song is produced by Tony Berg, Ethan Gruska, Jack Antonoff, and Phoebe Bridgers, with additional production by Alex G, who is opening the North American leg of Bridgers' tour. Her boygenius bandmates Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus contribute vocals. Chris Thile plays mandolin, Sebastian Steinberg plays upright bass, Rob Moose arranged the strings, and Bright Eyes' Nate Walcott handles the trumpets. Bridgers' longtime collaborators like Christian Lee Hutson, Marshall Vore, and Harrison Whitford are in there too.
In the music video, directed by Lance Oppenheim and Pablo Rochat, Bridgers plays the mystical elfin leader of a band of medieval knights who roam the modern world. Skyler Gisondo of Righteous Gemstones fame plays the gas station attendant who becomes their latest recruit. Oppenheim directed Primetime, the upcoming A24 movie about To Catch A Predator, which features Bridgers in its cast.
Watch the "Lost Boys" video below.
Lost Weekend is 8/14 on Dead Oceans.
