Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys review – ghosts, guns and guileless youth on generational songwriter’s return

Phoebe Bridgers has returned with “Lost Boys,” the first single from her third album, following a period of feeling “a little world-weary” after the success of her 2020 album “Punisher.” That album made her a superstar, but also brought invasive fan behavior – in 2022, fans criticized her engagement, and in 2023 she called out those who harassed her at an airport while she was heading to her father’s funeral.

Her promotional campaign for the new album included mysterious posters in small US towns advertising $1 surprise shows, where phones and recording devices – even pen and paper – were banned to prevent lyric leaks. Some fans accused her of ableism, sparking a backlash, but others respected her wishes: the r/phoebebridgers subreddit actively deleted excessive song descriptions, and no concert clips appear on YouTube.

“Lost Boys,” co-produced by Bridgers with Ethan Gruska, Tony Berg, and Jack Antonoff, features ornate fingerpicked guitar and darting woodwinds that recall Sufjan Stevens and Alex G. The chorus is among her most satisfying: “Lost boys never grow up, never grow old,” sung with warmth and backed by her Boygenius bandmates.

The lyrics contrast memories of military youth in East Berlin – army haircuts, children given rifles – with a story of a lover who immediately leaves. The song resists simple biographical detective work, flashing between past and future, intimacy and estrangement, and is unmistakably Bridgers in its ghostly presence.