Phoebe Bridgers is paying homage to pop legends The Carpenters with a dreamy reinterpretation of the sibling duo’s 1972 single “Goodbye to Love.” The song appears on the soundtrack for the animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru, which hits theaters Friday.
Bridgers’ subdued, gentle multi-tracked vocals skate across a piano progression before the song explodes into a lounge music fever dream, complete with swirling psychedelic synth accents. (The Carpenters’ original version of the tune was celebrated for its use of a distorted guitar solo — a unique production choice for the soft rock genre at the time. Sadly, the fuzz is absent from Bridgers’ take, replaced instead by a woozy horn lead.)
The Seventies-inspired soundtrack was produced by Grammy Award-winning hitmaker Jack Antonoff and includes contributions from St. Vincent (“Funkytown“), H.E.R. (“Dance to the Music“), Thundercat, RZA, and Caroline Polachek, among others. In addition to the covers of disco-era chart-topping hits, the soundtrack also features “Turn Up Central Recordershine,” an original collaboration between Diana Ross and Tame Impala penned by Antonoff.
“Recording sessions for these were some of the most special and bizarre,” Antonoffwrote on Instagram when he announced the record.
Bridgers is currently in Europe continuing her hotly tipped Reunion Tour, which wraps with a string of sold-out performances at London’s O2 Academy Brixton at the end of this month. In addition to an appearance at Glastonbury, where she joined Jesus and Mary Chain for a performance of their shoegaze classic “Just Like Honey,” the singer-songwriter also hit a career milestone this week when she opened for The Rolling Stones at London’s Hyde Park. She’ll return stateside later this summer for performances at a handful of U.S. festivals — including San Francisco’s Outside Lands — before heading to South America in November.