Music Review: ‘Lost Weekend’ is Phoebe Bridgers’ evocative sonic collage

Music Review: ‘Lost Weekend’ is Phoebe Bridgers’ evocative sonic collage

A tuning radio. The shouts and muffled beats of a New Year's Eve party. A voicemail from her father. On her excellent third studio album, “Lost Weekend,” Phoebe Bridgers creates a collage of the years since we last heard from her as a solo artist.

It’s her first solo album since 2020’s beloved “Punisher” and the return of her supergroup with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, Boygenius. Those intervening years, Bridgers explains in press materials, were also full of personal changes and challenges. One relationship dissolved and another blossomed. And in 2022, her father died. The album is dedicated to him.

Those are the dominant experiences Bridgers examines across the record, which sees her pair her signature lyrical style with enthralling, complex sonic arrangements. The journey she brings listeners on is not linear, but feels instead like a sort of road trip. Some experiences are lingered within; others merely drift past. Bridgers visits a mall on “Liberty Tree,” as a relationship sparks. A van breaks down in the title track, just before she acknowledges the breakup of a proposed marriage. On “Panorama,” ambient beats pulse and mix with a guitar track for over a minute before the listener arrives at Bridgers' verse, and a hotel room. It's a resting place, giving listeners space to absorb some of the more intense lyrical revelations surrounding the track.

In classic Bridgers fashion, the images evoked send listeners lurching from euphoria to heart-wrenching melancholy.

Wonderful wines to help welcome autumn

As we creep ever closer to fall, many wine drinkers will start to think about popping corks (or screwcaps, as it were) on wines that suit cooler temperatures.

But summer’s not quite done yet. Here are six new and/or notable wines ideal for sipping as we make the transition from warmer weather into the first hints of autumn…

Wines of the weekThe Willm NV Blanc de Noirs Crémant d’Alsace Brut (Alsace, France — $28.99, Liquor Marts and beyond) is a French bubbly made from the Pinot Noir grape in the traditional method (secondary fermentation, which creates the bubbles, happens in the bottle rather than in tanks before bottling).

It’s pale gold with a hint of pink, and on the nose offers ripe cherry, cranberry, bread dough and strawberry compote notes. On the palate it’s light-bodied and mainly dry, with an almost-wild herbal component coming with the strawberry, tart peach, cranberry, raspberry and bread dough flavours.

Smith’s pretzel logic confuses

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had both sides of her mouth working overtime on Aug. 30, when she spoke at an event in Calgary to commemorate Alberta Day, the annual celebration of the province’s entry into Confederation in 1905 (officially Sept. 1, it was celebrated on the weekend).

Smith’s comments — and the things she did not say — revealed a lot about the political tightrope the premier is trying to walk over the challenges currently faced by her province. At the top of that list of challenges is a persistent campaign to separate Alberta from the aforementioned Confederation. A campaign that Smith appears to both support and oppose, depending on which day of the week it is.

Her Alberta Day remarks were an excellent case in point.

Smith has decided that on Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on a series of non-binding propositions in a province referendum. One of those questions will ask Albertans whether they want to hold a referendum on separation, thus making this fall’s vote a “referendum on whether to hold a referendum,” as some observers have dubbed it.

Back to school means increased costs for parents, post-secondary students

In the words of advice for students from Thornton Melon: “It’s rough out there. Move back in with your parents.”

As comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s character alluded to in the 1986 comedy Back to School, it is indeed a tough financial environment as students head back to the classroom in 2026.

A Capital One Canada survey found families are struggling with costs, with nearly six in 10 parents surveyed stating back-to-school expenses are higher than expected.

It’s not just tuition, new clothes and supplies. Extracurricular activities — like hockey, figure skating, ringette, soccer, dance, etc. — also ramp up, involving tuition-sized payments.

Canada’s first drive-thru-only McDonald’s opens in Winnipeg

One Grimace and dozens of smiles were on display Wednesday as McDonald’s staff and supporters celebrated the grand opening of the fast-food chain’s first drive-thru-only restaurant in Canada.

MPI restricts loan program to winter tires only

Manitoba Public Insurance is getting strict about its winter tire program after years in which customers used it to buy other types of tires.

As of Oct. 1, only tires that are “designed and marketed solely for winter driving conditions, including snow and ice,” will be eligible for financing through the public insurer.

Currently, all-weather, all-season, four-season and year-round tires are included in the program, which allows MPI clients to pay the cost in monthly installments. The program, established in 2014, offers financing for up to $2,000, plus interest.

In an email to retailers, MPI says the program is being changed so it “helps ensure customers receive the full winter-driving safety benefits associated with dedicated winter tires.”