Though local outlets like KCRW have already been singing Jensen McRae’s praises, it wasn’t until a joke about an imaginary Phoebe Bridgers “cover” that many in the music industry sat up and took notice. Last week McRae tweeted a joke about the intro to Phoebe’s third album in 2023, hypothesizing it would be about getting vaccinated at Dodgers Stadium. Then, she went ahead and wrote the first verse for good measure. Hey, it’s a pandemic, we’re all trying to entertain ourselves as we can.
in 2023 Phoebe Bridgers is gonna drop her third album & the opening track will be about hooking up in the car while waiting in line to get vaccinated at dodger stadium and it’s gonna make me cry
— Jensen McRae (@Jensen_McRae) January 15, 2021
this is my preemptive cover of what I imagine it will sound like pic.twitter.com/F9xpngAutF
— Jensen McRae (@Jensen_McRae) January 15, 2021
Thing is, McRae’s “cover” was so spot on — and actually a really good song — so of course Phoebe herself shared it with the simple exclamation “oh my god.”
https://twitter.com/phoebe_bridgers/status/1350501584543731713
After that, the internet did its thing and the song became an instant social media hit. So Jensen decided to give the people what we want, and wrote through the whole song, naming it “Immune” and sharing it tonight. While it’s great that this viral incident put McRae on the map, keep in mind that she’s much more than just someone having fun on the internet, she’s an fledgling musician herself on the cusp of releasing a debut album, and has already released incredible original songs like “Wolves” and “White Boy.” Like Phoebe, McRae is a Los Angeles native; she was born in Santa Monica and raised in Woodland Hills in a Black and Jewish family. She received a full ride to USC’s Thornton School of Music and graduated with a degree in popular music performance. Check out “Immune” above and look for a lot more coming from Jensen soon.
