After sharing the plaintive and meditative "Smoke Signals" in January, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers offered a second glimpse of her upcoming debut album Stranger in the Alps by releasing "Motion Sickness". The second track serves as perfect listening material when driving along LA's vast highways, with its pleasant midtempo pace (after all, sonic inertia would do its principal metaphor of 'emotional motion sickness' an injustice). Bridgers' voice is dreamy and sweet: a noted contrast from the frank and dramatic confessions she makes in the song. The opening verses indicates the song's rare ability to juxtapose powerful phrases with an easy-listening sonic template: 'I hate you for what you did/ And I miss you like a little kid'.
The song has Bridgers wear her heart on her sleeve, as she recounts a bittersweet experience of personal betrayal and separation. The plot behind her evident heartbreak is not clearly laid out, but there are vivid details that bring her turmoil to life. As with any failed relationship, one inevitably ends up with a mixed bag of emotions and a pressing need to move on ('There are no words in the English language/ I could scream to drown you out'). We learn that 'he' gave Bridgers $1,500 to see his hynotherapist, but she 'only went one time'. She recalls falling on 'hard times' last year, and he thankfully let it slide. We also learn that she 'faked it every time but that's alright', that he sings with an English accent, and, during the song's highest vocal register, that he is very much older than she is ('You said when you met me you were bored/ And you you were in a band when I was born').
In the song's final verse, Bridgers shifts the focus from her ex to herself, laying out a tentative plan for future personal growth: 'I try to stay clean and live without/ And I want to know what would happen/ If I surrender to the sound'. As Maria Sledmere noted in an extensive profile, Bridgers' musical output stands apart for her ability to bare her emotions in a direct and compelling way, aided by a wordsmith's ability for scene-setting. In an age of widespread oversharing, Bridgers creates a sense of mystery by keeping the key details to herself while immersing listeners in an atmosphere of cathartic melancholy.
