American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers delivers silent heartbreak on “I Can’t Wait,” the fourteenth single from her album “Lost Weekend,” featuring Conor Oberst on harmonica.
There’s a lot of history in that harmonica. Better Oblivion Community Center is a collaboration between Bridgers and Oberst; therefore, the chemistry on this track is the result of working side by side for years, not a first-time match. His playing is a thread of weathered, road-dusted texture that weaves itself into the music like a restless, wandering thought rather than sitting back as mere ornament.
The single is built on a base of folk thanks to the acoustic guitar, violin, and mandolin of Nickel Creek and a Bright Eyes link, which helps draw it a little bit from the more electronic or vocoder-heavy moments on the album. There’s also a mysterious vocal credit here under the name of Son-John Johnson, which many fans believe to be that of Geese frontman Cameron Winter, adding another layer of intrigue to an already stacked list of credits.
What works in “I Can’t Wait” is temperance. Bridgers cloaks worry in something that sounds almost sweet, allowing the song to generate ambiance rather than spectacle. It doesn’t so much resolve as retreat, leaving behind the kind of lingering ache that has marked her songwriting from her earliest songs.
The song tackles fear and the emotional strain head-on, so if any of this resonates with you on a personal level, it could be beneficial to talk to somebody you trust.
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