She’s the fresh face of modern folk, whose second studio album casts a razor-sharp eye on the absurdities of life. Phoebe Bridgers talks to PORTER about finding her own forms of self-care and songwriting, plus the creative collaborations that have shaped her career – including the poignant music video directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and starring Normal People’s Paul Mescal.

On Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who directed the video for Savior Complex last year, Bridgers says: “Fleabag changed my life. I was pretty late to it. It had been mansplained to me so many times. Too many ex-boyfriends were like, ‘You should watch this, it reminds me of you.’ I was like, fuck off. Then I watched it and fell in love.”

Bridgers met Waller-Bridge over email, a move she now makes sound like a totally normal thing to do: “I was like, I don’t want to be another person asking her for things, but my one dream is to make something, so I asked her and she had an idea for the video and it all fell into place really magically.”

Bridgers explains her songwriting process: “I cover my whole body in lotion, light every candle I own and put on pajamas. Then I pick up a guitar. I play it for ten seconds before walking away. I can’t decide what’s going to come out of my brain. When I have enough ideas collected, I usually write a third of a song and then give up. Then I listen to it on walks and somewhere along the way I just can’t help [but] finish it… I am yet to sit down and just write a song.”

Bridgers admits her second album, Punisher, which was released partway through the pandemic, has been the longest album cycle: “It’s going to take a lot to get back to normal because my normal is filling rooms with thousands of people, and traveling.”

Bridgers explains why she hasn’t always loved touring: “I hated it previously, because it’s a weird combination of being spoiled but simultaneously denied things that people take for granted. Consistency is something that you’re denied; a constant schedule or sleep pattern. The minute you feel you have your shit together, it’s thrown off by a red-eye flight or something. It’s hard to feel grounded.”

Bridgers’ songs often go viral on social media platform TikTok: “There’s way more good about TikTok than bad. Within the context of the world that we are in, TikTok is great. I’ve seen criticism of TikTok psychology and weaponizing therapy language and that is going to be cool to examine. But, for the most part, I think it’s a good thing that therapy and mental health is destigmatized. You can talk about everything now. I owe most of my normalization [to] the internet, which I am grateful for.”

She is cautious however, not to overshare on social media: “I am terrified of myself reading my tweets from now, in five years’ time. I don’t want to be embarrassed and like, ‘Ugh you were 26 and tweeting about UTIs – what were you doing?’”

Bridgers explains how pulling a tarot card each day allows her control in an otherwise chaotic world: “I really like clarity readings. You don’t need to ask a question. You pull one card then you pull three under it to clarify the meaning of it for you.”

Her own form of self-care involves taking a moment for herself: “Taking a second for your life is important and was discouraged by the generation before us. Like taking a moment and making your apartment smell nice, or whatever. It’s not a means to an end, it is the end. To me, I feel like the biggest piece of self-care advice is clean your house like your crush is coming over. Pick the trash you’ve been ignoring up off the table.”

Bridgers has tapped into an audience that wants to see its own emotions reflected back at it: “I want to write folk songs. I hope that’s what people like about me; that they hear me saying stuff that they haven’t heard in a song before.”

Referring to her own music taste and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, whom she collaborates with regularly, Bridgers explains: “I can only speak for what I am inspired by. But, for me, [this] was listening to stuff like Bright Eyes. I wasn’t used to hearing people say stuff like that in a song.”

Punisher earned the singer-songwriter four Grammy nominations and, despite Elton John threatening to hit someone if she didn’t win, she came away with none. On navigating her ascension, she says she has built a world around herself that she invites people into: “Rather than feeling like I was trying to break into something… For me, consistency is the way that the music industry has changed; I have a family dynamic, as gross as that may sound. I know who to call about what thing.”

For PORTER’s shoot, Phoebe Bridgers was photographed by Daniel Jack Lyons and styled by Sean Knight, wearing Saint Laurent, 3.1 Phillip Lim, The Row, Christopher Esber, Alaïa and more. All items can be purchased straight from the shoot via the NET-A-PORTER app, available on Android as well as iPhone and iPad, and through net-a-porter.

Interview Highlights:

Phoebe Bridgers on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag: “Fleabag changed my life. I was pretty late to it. It had been mansplained to me so many times. Too many ex-boyfriends were like, ‘You should watch this, it reminds me of you.’ I was like, fuck off. Then I watched it and fell in love.”

Phoebe Bridgers on working with Phoebe Waller-Bridge: “I was like, I don’t want to be another person asking her for things, but my one dream is to make something, so I asked her and she had an idea for the video and it all fell into place really magically.”

Phoebe Bridgers on her song writing process: “I cover my whole body in lotion, light every candle I own and put on pajamas. Then I pick up a guitar. I play it for 10 seconds before walking away. I can’t decide what’s going to come out of my brain. When I have enough ideas collected, I usually write a third of a song and then give up. Then I listen to it on walks and somewhere along the way I just can’t help [but] finish it… I am yet to sit down and just write a song.”

Phoebe Bridgers on releasing an album in the middle of a pandemic: “It’s going to take a lot to get back to normal because my normal is filling rooms with thousands of people, and traveling.”

Phoebe Bridgers on touring: “I hated it previously, because it’s a weird combination of being spoiled but simultaneously denied things that people take for granted. Consistency is something that you’re denied; a constant schedule or sleep pattern. The minute you feel you have your shit together, it’s thrown off by a red-eye flight or something. It’s hard to feel grounded.”

Phoebe Bridgers on social media platform, TikTok: “There’s way more good about TikTok than bad. Within the context of the world that we are in, TikTok is great. I’ve seen criticism of TikTok psychology and weaponizing therapy language and that is going to be cool to examine. But, for the most part, I think it’s a good thing that therapy and mental health is destigmatized. You can talk about everything now. I owe most of my normalization [to] the internet, which I am grateful for.”

Phoebe Bridgers on navigating social media: “I am terrified of myself reading my tweets from now, in five years’ time. I don’t want to be embarrassed and like, ‘Ugh you were 26 and tweeting about UTIs – what were you doing?’”

Phoebe Bridgers on tarot reading: “I really like clarity readings. You don’t need to ask a question. You pull one card then you pull three under it to clarify the meaning of it for you.” 

Phoebe Bridgers on self-care: “Taking a second for your life is important and was discouraged by the generation before us. Like taking a moment and making your apartment smell nice, or whatever. It’s not a means to an end, it is the end. To me, I feel like the biggest piece of self-care advice is clean your house like your crush is coming over. Pick the trash you’ve been ignoring up off the table.”

Phoebe Bridgers on her style of songwriting: “I want to write folk songs. I hope that’s what people like about me; that they hear me saying stuff that they haven’t heard in a song before.”

Phoebe Bridgers on her own music taste: “I can only speak for what I am inspired by. But, for me, [this] was listening to stuff like Bright Eyes. I wasn’t used to hearing people say stuff like that in a song.”

Phoebe Bridgers on navigating her ascension: “Rather than feeling like I was trying to break into something… For me, consistency is the way that the music industry has changed; I have a family dynamic, as gross as that may sound. I know who to call about what thing.”

To see the full interview, read PORTER at net-a-porter.com and/or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android.

See also: Gugu Mbatha-Raw on joining the Marvel Universe and breaking down cultural barriers