Taylor Swift used Phoebe Bridgers‘ birthday to publicly praise her friend’s new album, turning a birthday greeting into a glowing review. Writing on her Instagram Story, Swift said, “It’s her birthday, but she gave us a gift,” referring to Bridgers’ newly released record, Lost Weekend, and sharing its cover artwork.
Swift continued, “Haven’t been able to stop listening. This album is an absolute triumph in every way. To write about grief with such vulnerability and detail and to trust the listener with this much honesty.”
She ended the tribute by writing, “Happy bday @phoebebridgers I love you!!”
A birthday and an album release days apart
Bridgers, who was born on August 17, 1994, in Pasadena, Calif., turned 32 the same day Swift shared her tribute. Lost Weekend arrived just three days earlier, on August 14, putting the album’s release and Bridgers’ birthday almost back-to-back.
The record is Bridgers’ first new solo album in six years, following 2020’s Punisher and her third full-length studio album overall after her 2017 debut, Stranger in the Alps.
A friendship built on collaboration
Swift’s praise comes after years of collaboration between the two artists. Swift featured Bridgers on “Nothing New,” a vault track from Red (Taylor’s Version) that debuted at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bridgers later opened for Swift on nine dates of the Eras Tour in 2023. The pair also performed “Nothing New” together at several shows, further cementing their friendship and creative connection.
Grief, love and a six-year wait
Bridgers spent much of the six years between Punisher and Lost Weekend away from her solo career while remaining active as a collaborator and a member of boygenius.
The group released the Grammy-winning album The Record with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus and sold out major venues including the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden.
During that period, Bridgers also experienced the end of her relationship with actor Paul Mescal and the death of her father, experiences that became central to Lost Weekend. The album explores grief, romantic relationships and the complicated emotions surrounding them.
The track “Never Going Back!” incorporates a voicemail from Bridgers’ father, while songs including “Still Standing” and the album’s title track also address his death. The record also includes moments of happiness tied to her relationship with comedian Bo Burnham.
Lost Weekend features contributions from Alex G, Jack Antonoff, Julien Baker, Burnham, Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson, Caroline Shaw and Chris Thile.
Bridgers co-produced the album with longtime collaborators Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska, alongside Antonoff.
At 52 minutes and 16 tracks, including several short interludes, the album is Bridgers’ longest solo release to date. Berg and Gruska, who also worked on Punisher and Stranger in the Alps, are among its key production collaborators.
Critical reception and chart performance
Lost Weekend has received broadly positive reviews, with critics praising its vulnerability and ambition and describing it as a reckoning with romantic and familial love, loss and grief. Other reviews have called it Bridgers’ most ambitious and sonically experimental album yet, particularly praising its movement toward resolution by the closing reprise.
Commercially, the album debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart, giving Bridgers her first solo No. 1 in the country. She had previously topped the U.K. Albums Chart in 2023 as a member of boygenius with The Record, which also peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
Bridgers’ recent career arc
Bridgers and her boygenius bandmates were among the biggest winners at the 2024 Grammys. At the ceremony, Bridgers said the group planned to step back for a while, telling reporters, “Now, we walk into the sunset.”
That hiatus effectively became the backdrop for Lost Weekend, which documents Bridgers’ time away from the spotlight as she worked through fame, relationships and personal loss.
