Melissa Kacar

For an album that Phoebe Bridgers once described in an interview with DORK as "sorta about the end of the world," Punisher ended up being released at a time that made that sentiment feel more relevant than ever. Although this album was completed before the pandemic hit, its release in early summer 2020 ended up becoming the perfect soundtrack for that surreal and uncertain time. Arriving alongside the height of a global health crisis and rising political unrest in the United States, Punisher ended up being this very timely release and a sign of the times in a lot of ways, without ever necessarily intending to be. Nowhere does that notion resonate more than in the closing track, "I Know The End" . The song begins in a quiet, disoriented frame of mind, with Phoebe singing, "Somewhere in Germany, but I can't place it, man, I hate this part of Texas, close my eyes, fantasize three clicks and I'm home," in the opening verse. "When I get back, I...

Following the announcement that Taylor Swift has officially purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, a pursuit widely publicized since 2019, her journey to reclaim her music has reached a defining milestone. This moment, along with the path she took to get here, marks a significant turning point in Taylor's career. She has been very vocal about re-recording her first six albums as a way to reclaim ownership of her early work after the rights to the original master recordings were sold by Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta to Scooter Braun and his company, Ithica Holdings in 2019 for $300 million. In a 2019 letter, Taylor says she was never given the option to buy the rights back to her albums, and the masters being sold to Scooter Braun was her "worst case scenario". She continued by saying, "This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term 'loyalty' is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that ...

Punisher , Phoebe Bridgers ' 2020 sophomore album, is a stunning example of lyrical precision and expansive, atmospheric world-building. It offers a deeply moving, hyper-specific glimpse into her mind, one that explores the emotional push and pull of wanting to escape the life she leads while also longing to remain in the comfort of familiarity. Each song is personal, intimate, and rich in specificity.  With this record, she solidified her space as one of the most important storytellers of this generation. Phoebe's songwriting is uniquely specific in the way that it is conversational and diaristic, while also being able to capture the universal moments and emotions that are often impossible to articulate in such an impactful way.  Punisher  is filled with some of my favorite lyrics ever written - "I wish I wrote it, but I didn't, so I learn the words" is very much the feeling I have every single time I hear this album. Each song on this album has so many really po...