PARTIES

Leon Bridges Reveals His Song of Summer

At the Surf Lodge in Montauk.


Leon Bridges

With a performance on Saturday evening at The Surf Lodge in Montauk, Leon Bridges became the latest artist to join Google Play Music’s summer concert series lineup, which includes The Flaming Lips, Solange Knowles, Mac DeMarco, Zoe Kravitz, and others.

Bridges, who came dressed in his signature high-waist pants suit and skinny tie, was well received by those who actually made it through the hotel’s velvet ropes. One man-bun sporting attendee, who somehow slipped in, said he “was so stoked” for the show (and that he uses a hair product called “Secret Agent”). Perfectly white sneakers filled the dance floor while those partaking of the plentiful rosé nailed all the words to Bridges’s love songs like “Coming Home.” After the sunset show, Bridges talked to W about his outfit, upcoming summer plans, personal playlist preferences, and more.

I like your embroidered jacket, what does it say? “Shine.” It’s a random vintage jacket I found on the road in Austin.

You’ve been traveling a lot, but have you taken any personal vacations this summer? I’m going to New Orleans in August right before we get back on the road. But it’s all good, man, this is a vacation right here. My whole life is a vacation. Like, Montauk…what the freak? There are so many beautiful people. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Have you ever been around here before? No. I ain’t been nowhere! Everything is new. We went to Europe for the first time in March.

Any highlights from your tour? Definitely Philly, Bristol, Scotland, and Paris.

Philly kind of stands out of that group… Yeah man, it was crazy. And tonight! People were actually dancing. Sometimes they just sway along, but this crowd really wanted to get down.

What do you like do you like to do when you go back home to Fort Worth, Texas? The neighborhood spot is called the Boiled Owl, which is where I met Austin Jenkins, my guitar player, and everything changed. My biggest thing is hanging out with my friends though. I’m like, “Hey fellas, I’m home! Let’s turn up!”

What are some songs you like to listen to in the summer? Any favorite summer love songs? Recently, I swear, the summer song for me has been “Shame” by Tyrese. He released a record and I love it, man. It’s not like classic soul music but I love the fact that he went back to the simple, good R&B singing and delivery. A lot of R&B cats are doing a lot of auto-tune. Tyrese went back to the basics. I love classic soul music and Ginuwine. Ginuwine and Usher laid the foundation back in the ‘90s. There’s no one doing that anymore.

Any new music that you like? The Bahamas. I recently saw them at the Newport Folk Festival and it was the best thing. They’re my new favorite band. I love them—I can’t say it enough.