At 20 years old, beabadoobee is bringing her fun youthfulness back into British indie. She shows us what a girl can do with just a guitar and a passion for music.
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At just 20 years old, beabadoobee is an incredible up and coming talent. Since 2018, she’s released Lice (2018), Patched Up (2018), Loveworm (2019) and Space Cadet (2019) on indie label Dirty Hit. Now, she’s set to take over the British indie scene with her debut studio album, Fake It Flowers, that’s sure to label her as this years stand-out artist. Having already been nominated for the Rising Star Award at this years Brit Awards, and winning the Radar Award at the NME Awards, she’s well on her way to becoming one of the staple names in the indie music scene.
beabadoobee’s sound is distinct – you can play any of the songs from Fake It Flowers and know instantly that it’s beabadoobee. The British indie scene has exploded in the last 5 or so years, but beabadoobee keeps it raw and sweet, from the topics she covers in her work, to the ways in which she slides up the strings, as heard in ‘Back To Mars’. This raw sound is strikingly reminiscent of the early to mid-revival of British indie-pop and rock of the 2000s, almost being the perfect example of it. The airy, light, casual yet personal sound that is the beabadoobee discography that we all know and love has been ramped up to 11 with Fake It Flowers.
‘Back To Mars’ in particular highlights how indie is supposed to sound – natural. Instead of editing out the sound of her sliding on the strings, it’s a deliberate choice to keep it in, thus demonstrating how this adds texture and distinctness to a music scene that is often criticised for all sounding the same. beabadoobee is a self taught guitarist who wants to make music; it’s as simple and as pure as that, and she’s certainly good at it.
Another interesting song is ‘Emo Song’. Although it does not quite work in the flow of the album, beabadoobee has got to be commended for experimenting with genres, emo and indie, to make this track. Although indie and beabadoobee-classic bedroom-pop does work to discuss emotional topics, the way in which beabadoobee feels more in depth than other works in the same scene, being both a good and a bad thing. ‘Emo Song’ is so out there it feels alien and strange, and thus could isolate some listeners, but at the same time, the ambitious making of the track is certainly impressive. When thinking about this song in context to the indie scene, ‘Emo Song’ is way ahead of the game.
However, ‘Care’ is hands down the best opening song of any album released in 2020. This year has been atrocious, but ‘Care’ is such a fun and uplifting song, you forget about 2020 for those 3 minutes and 15 seconds as you sing along to the upbeat happy tune. She sings out all those feelings you have about that person who you have tried so hard to cling to, and finally, blissfully, let go. The melody and riff compliment one another perfectly, so that ‘Care’ feels like a perfect theme song for a teen sitcom… or as an addition to your own personal backing soundtrack. This track is a banger and does show just how talented beabadoobee is when writing lyrics as she considered the interaction with the music. This is an absolute delight of a song and is hands down one of the best things to happen this year.
Fake It Flowers is out on the 16th of October. Beabadoobee is heading on her Fake It Flowers tour in 2021. Check out more information here, and check out ‘Care’ down below.
