Taylor Swift used Phoebe Bridgers’ birthday to make it clear that one album has been dominating her listening lately.
Swift returned to Instagram Stories on Aug. 17 to celebrate Bridgers turning 32 and praise her newly released third studio album, Lost Weekend. “It’s her birthday but she gave us a gift,” Swift wrote, according to AOL’s coverage of the post.
Swift said she had not been able to stop listening to the record and called it “an absolute triumph in every way,” highlighting the vulnerability, detail and honesty Bridgers brought to writing about grief.
Swift and Bridgers have spent years supporting one another professionally. They recorded “Nothing New” together for Red (Taylor’s Version), shared the stage during the Eras Tour and have maintained a friendship beyond those collaborations.
Swift Said She Hasn’t Been Able to Stop Listening
Swift reshared Bridgers’ post about Lost Weekend while delivering her birthday message. “It’s her birthday but she gave us a gift,” Swift wrote, according to PEOPLE. “Haven’t been able to stop listening. This album is an absolute triumph in every way.”
Swift then singled out the emotional openness of Bridgers’ songwriting. “To write about grief with such vulnerability and detail, and to trust the listener with this much honesty,” she wrote. Swift ended the tribute simply: “I love you.”
Bridgers released Lost Weekend on Aug. 14, only three days before her birthday and it brings the attention firmly back to her as a solo songwriter.
‘Lost Weekend’ Ends a Six-Year Wait for a Phoebe Bridgers Solo Album
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Lost Weekend is Bridgers’ third solo studio album and her first since Punisher arrived in 2020. Her label, Dead Oceans confirmed that the album was released Aug. 14 alongside the music video for “I Can’t Wait.”
The 16-track record places grief, memory, relationships and change at the center of much of its writing. Bridgers has spent the new album cycle returning to the intensely personal songwriting that defined her earlier solo work while expanding the sound around it.
Bridgers formed boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus years earlier, but the trio reached a new level of mainstream recognition with 2023’s The Record. The project and its songs earned the group multiple Grammy Awards the following year.
Bridgers also collaborated with artists including SZA and Swift, toured as an opening act on the Eras Tour and continued releasing music through various projects before returning to a full-length record under her own name.
Swift and Bridgers First Recorded Together on ‘Nothing New’
Their most prominent studio collaboration arrived in 2021, when Bridgers joined Swift on “Nothing New,” a vault track included on Red (Taylor’s Version). The song, written by Swift years earlier, examines anxieties about getting older in an industry that continually searches for someone younger and newer.
Bridgers was openly enthusiastic about being invited onto the track. She described the collaboration as a “dream” in a 2021 interview with Billboard and said she became emotional while recording her part.
Bridgers also praised Swift beyond the music itself, calling her an “incredible businessperson” and “incredible writer.” “What she’s been able to build just from writing adeptly from a young age is insane,” Bridgers said.
They Took ‘Nothing New’ From the Studio to the Eras Tour
Their musical friendship became considerably more visible in 2023 when Bridgers joined Swift for a run of Eras Tour dates. Bridgers served as an opening act during the tour and then returned to the stage during Swift’s set to perform “Nothing New” with her.
They debuted the song live together at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on May 5, 2023 and continued performing it during Bridgers’ stretch as an opener.
At the end of Bridgers’ run opening for Swift in New Jersey, Swift publicly thanked her and said she would miss their “dressing room heart to hearts,” making clear that their relationship extended beyond appearing together for a nightly duet.
Years later, that connection remains visible. PEOPLE reported that Swift and Bridgers were both guests at the Aug. 15 wedding of music-industry collaborators Oli Jacobs and Laura Sisk in England, just two days before Swift posted her birthday tribute.