The delicate and haunting title song from Punisher, for instance, was inspired by the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, one of Bridgers' musical influences alongside Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone and Tom Waits. I thought, 'This is my favorite version.''

This version kind of makes me second-guess every choice I've ever made. 'I wrote 'Kyoto,' for example, as a ballad initially. 'He makes me like my songs more,' Bridgers says of Moose's treatments. I called him up and asked him to make arrangements of four songs, and he did it in a heartbeat.' Moose's re-interpretations of the four tracks-'Kyoto,' 'Savior Complex,' 'Punisher' and 'Chinese Satellite'-have a heightened dramatic and lush feeling compared with their originals on Punisher. 'I had just made a couple of recordings with Rob,' Bridgers recalls, 'and he was on my mind because I just love the way that he re-imagines songs. Working with string arranger Rob Moose (whose credits include Taylor Swift, Bon Iver and Alabama Shakes among others), Bridgers re-recorded her songs in September for the EP, whose vinyl version is being made available exclusively through British record label and distributor Rough Trade. On November 20, Bridgers released a new EP Copycat Killer, which recasts four of the songs from Punisher with only strings and her vocals. And capping off an amazing 2020 for her, Bridgers was recently nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Alternative Music Album ( Punisher), Best Rock Song ('Kyoto'), and Best Rock Performance ('Kyoto'). In between those two albums, Bridgers also made records as a member of the supergroup boygenius (with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) and the duo Better Oblivion Community Center (with Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst). It's the follow-up to her 2017 debut record Stranger in the Alps. Punisher, her second album, was released this past June to critical acclaim. Still the folk-based Bridgers, 26, is having a banner year musically.

'I tried to make banana bread,' she tells Newsweek 'but it got moldy, literally one day later. Instead of touring and sharing stages with The National and The 1975, she's been home in Los Angeles. The boredom and anxiety of this year wasn't what indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers had been expecting.

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