Phoebe Bridgers stormed onto the indie rock scene last year with her stunning debut, Stranger In The Alps, which she assured me in an interview, isn’t quite as poetic as it may seem on first glance. What is poetic though is Bridgers’ ability to turn the fragile, raw parts of life into assured, lilting folk songs, that occasionally stray into the heavier territory.
Last night, she also proved that she can take that heavier territory, like say, a Japandroids song, and move that right into her own oeuvre. She did a live cover of the noisy Canadian duo’s huge song “The House That Heaven Built,” and made it into a tiny, precious thing. Somehow, her version doesn’t lose any of the song’s original power, though.
While it may not be the first time Bridgers has done this cover, it’s the first time the internet has gotten a hold of it, so for most of us it’s probably the first listen through of a spectacular cover. In the beginning of the clip she makes a joke about mishearing lyrics that hits very close to home for a listener like me, and opts to use the Google lyrics for her performance. It works out nicely. Watch above.
