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How Phoebe Bridgers became a sound.

“her mothers are Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers”

PITCHFORK ON GRACIE ABRAMS · 28 FEBRUARY 2023

How did Phoebe Bridgers become a sound? First the reviews that heard other artists in her, then the reviews that hear her in others, each in the order they were written.

Each comparison is something a critic wrote, dated, and linked where the review is online. It is not a claim about who shaped whom.

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PITCHFORK ON STRANGER IN THE ALPS · 23 SEPTEMBER 2017
“she crafted her own lyrics out of a misremembered Feist track”
The Reminder by Feist, 2007
ROLLING STONE ON PUNISHER · 17 JUNE 2020
“Bridgers was a millennial Warren Zevon”
Warren Zevon by Warren Zevon, 1976
Read the review (opens in a new tab)
THE QUIETUS ON PUNISHER · 19 JUNE 2020
“Her hero, Elliott Smith, was deeply felt.”
Either/Or by Elliott Smith, 1997
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By 2022, confessional indie songwriters were up against “the ‘sad girl’ tag and Phoebe Bridgers comparisons”.
LOUD AND QUIET ON SOCCER MOMMY · 20 JUNE 2022
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SPIN ON WET LEG · 8 APRIL 2022
“a fine successor to Phoebe Bridgers’ guttural howl on 2020’s ‘I Know The End.’”
Wet Leg by Wet Leg, 2022
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PITCHFORK ON PARAMORE · 10 FEBRUARY 2023
“Her falsetto on ‘Liar’ sounds inspired by the wistful melancholy of Phoebe Bridgers”
This Is Why by Paramore, 2023
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THE LINE OF BEST FIT ON TAYLOR SWIFT · 19 APRIL 2024
“edging closer to the muted space of Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher”
The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift, 2024
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THE LINE OF BEST FIT ON SEAROWS · 21 JANUARY 2026
“Phoebe Bridgers, who’s patented this desolate vocal style for years”
Death in the Business of Whaling by Searows, 2026
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