"and if I could be who you wanted"
Make no qualms about it. Everything Phoebe Bridgers puts out (thus far) has been perfectly crafted personal musical dioramas that pull you deeply into her fray. She has a vocal aesthetic that has the ability to shift your thinking and your emotional barometer. She also has a style and musical character that is unique and instantly recognizable (and wildly copied or emulated). I have not heard this womxn put out a bad song, not even close and for me, she pushes her art form in high brackets. 99 % of her musical creations (and they seem so much more than that) with and without her collaborators are amazing works.
Still, it is with some trepidation that I pushed play on Phoebe and Arlo Parks performing a stripped down Piano Sessions version of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" for Phil Taggart's Chillest Show on BBC Radio 1. The iconic song from the band's 1995 "The Bends" that was almost instantly derided at the time (for lack of substance) and features Thom Yorke's emo encrusted stream of consciousness lyrics have, since then, become adored for good reason and regarded as an incredibly insightful moving song (with metaphors galore for those who reach for them). While Yorke, as of late, writes more askew poetry in his songs (maybe the pivot point being Kid A), in the 90's Yorke's more emotionally direct lines like "if I could be all you wanted" (Fake Plastic Trees) or "I want you to notice when I'm not around" (Creep) where so to the point and bleeding. The stuff of youth and or broken relationships of any age that are so easily relatable. But I digress.
As I pushed play on this LIVE performance and hearing so many version over the years, I was prepared to be impressed given the two artists performing but I was not prepared to be absolutely crushed by Bridgers' and Arlo Parks' take. The performance is incredibly nuanced and so natural (or so it seems). Bridgers, besides being such an incredible songwriter, is the ultimate, consummate storyteller. In various covers she has done over the years, she seems to feel every word intensely as if she, herself, penned them. This ability to adopt the work of others so completely is striking.
This is the case here, with "Fake Plastic Trees" as she imbues the song with a tactile, visceral broken quality. When she pushes into the higher melodies it feels so emotionally scarred. The performance have softness but deeply sharp edges, as well, enhanced by Parks emotional piano and backing vocals. When they both sing the touching refrain "it wears her out", the pregnant pauses are definite, interrupting the flow in an abrupt way and the resulting emotional space is so clearly defined surprises, allowing for the fall back in to feel even more moving. Just brilliant.
When Bridgers hits the beautiful ascension of "she looks like the real thing" with it's underbelly of utter breakdown and expansive eruption of emotions, I literally felt the spikey cold tinge of goosebumps skating across my arms. Bridger's and Parks take on "Fake Plastic Trees" absolutely, utterly, utterly killed me.
So goddamn beautiful.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - STUFF:
Phoebe Bridgers x Arlo Parks perform a stripped back Radio 1 Piano Sessions version of 'Fake Plastic Trees' by Radiohead for Phil Taggart's Chillest Show
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