Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers' first solo album in six years, arrives August 14. Reviews are already trickling in, and listeners scanning the credits have spotted something strange.
According to Rolling Stone, among the contributors listed on the album are longtime collaborators Christian Lee Hutson and her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, plus newer faces like Jack Antonoff and Alex G on additional production. But one name stands out: Son-John Johnson.
Johnson is credited on two tracks, "Kill Me" and "I Can't Wait." On the first, he provides backing vocals. On the second, he takes a more prominent role, duetting with Bridgers. The lyrics they sing together in unison read: "All my life/Side by side/Hyde Jekyll Hyde/Finally together."
Listeners familiar with current indie rock think they recognize the voice. Geese frontman Cameron Winter has one of the most distinctive voices in rock right now, and the raw falsetto on both tracks sounds, by Rolling Stone's description, unmistakably like him.
When Rolling Stone asked Winter directly about it, he did not deny it. He also did not confirm it. "I'll have to contact my lawyer," he said, and laughed.
A representative for Bridgers did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment. But Winter has used fake names before. Earlier this year he performed a secret solo show billed under the name "Chet Chomsky."
Lost Weekend follows Bridgers' 2020 album Punisher. She announced the new record earlier this summer and dropped the single "Lost Boys" ahead of the release. She performed the song twice during surprise appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, once with young musicians and once with a group that included veteran musician Dan Reeder.
One month after the album drops, Bridgers will launch the Lost Tour, beginning September 15 in Indianapolis. The tour will be completely phoneless, continuing a policy she enforced at recent intimate acoustic shows across the country. At a show at Madison Square Garden in June, she addressed the crowd directly on the subject. "If any of you stuck an Apple Watch up your ass to record this, please don't post it on the internet," she told them. "I'm trusting you."
Whether Son-John Johnson takes the stage with her remains unknown.
