Punisher (album)
Punisher is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, released on June 18, 2020, by Dead Oceans.[3] It is the follow-up to her 2017 debut album, Stranger in the Alps. In the years prior to her sophomore effort, the California native also formed the bands Boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center.
Punisher
June 18, 2020
2018–2019
Sound City (Van Nuys, California)
40:37
- Tony Berg
- Ethan Gruska
- Phoebe Bridgers
Punisher was recorded over a year and a half at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and reunited Bridgers with producers Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska, who also engineered Alps. Its recording process was collaborative with its liner notes crediting over two dozen prominent musicians, including Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson, Jim Keltner, Blake Mills, and Conor Oberst. Punisher was supported by five singles "Garden Song", "Kyoto", "ICU", "I Know the End" and "Savior Complex". Upon its release, the album attracted acclaim from music critics, who celebrated its open lyricism.
Background[edit]
American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers rose to prominence in the late 2010s with a blend of subdued and specific songwriting that quickly garnered her a significant level of fame among indie rock fans.[4] Bridgers grew up writing songs and playing guitar; a Los Angeles native, she attended its County High School for the Arts, where she studied vocal jazz. In 2017, she released her debut album, Stranger in the Alps, on Indiana-based indie label Dead Oceans. The LP received widespread acclaim from critics and peers; guitarist John Mayer heralded it as "the arrival of a giant".[5]
She rapidly became an in-demand performer, guesting on songs with the National, Fiona Apple, the 1975, and Jackson Browne.[6] She formed the all-female supergroup boygenius with musicians Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, which released an EP in 2018.[7] She also began collaborating with Conor Oberst, forming the band Better Oblivion Community Center; it released its debut, self-titled album in 2019.[8] She also began closely working with singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson, going on to produce Hutson's debut album, Beginners, released in 2020.[4] Ryan Leas, writing for Stereogum, observed that Bridgers' growing body of work—particularly before releasing a second album—was already "diverse and complex".[9]
Release[edit]
Punisher was highly anticipated.[13] The album's first single, "Garden Song", was released on February 26, 2020,[18] with its follow-up, "Kyoto", seeing release on April 9 of that year.[19] The album's third single "ICU" (retitled "I See You") was released on May 19, 2020.[20]
The LP was scheduled for release on June 19[19]—or Juneteenth, the official end of slavery in the U.S.—but Bridgers opted to release it early on digital services, with an announcement encouraging fans to donate to organizations seeking racial justice.[3][11] It debuted during a worldwide quarantine related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and amid a period of civil unrest in the U.S., with citizens protesting the murder by police of George Floyd and other people of color. "I'm not [delaying] the record until things go back to 'normal' because I don't think they should," Bridgers wrote on Twitter.[10] Touring plans for Punisher were postponed due to the aforementioned pandemic. Bridgers was scheduled to open for the 1975 on a stadium tour.[8] Bridgers announced a headlining tour set for September and October 2021.[21]