Having picked up her second-hand guitar chops via YouTube tutorials as an antidote to being kicked out of school at 17, Beabadoobee’s lo-fi bedroom tracks, relatable lyrics and effortless slacker cool have just the right amount of sugar to brew the essential caffeinated Gen Z soundtrack. When the first song she’d ever written was remixed in a Powfu 2019 single, both the track and artist overnight became inextricably linked to TikTok (a staggering 10 billion plays in three months) and transformed her status to bona fide meme legend.
Signed to renowned indie label Dirty Hit – also home to The 1975 and Rina Sawayama – her acclaimed and riotously scuzzy debut album Fake It Flowers lit up 2020 and picked up a heap of industry accolades (making the BBC Sound poll longlist, a Brits Critics’ Choice nomination and winning the NME Radar award), but her ambitions are laid out on a far greater scale with the multi-layered second LP Beatopia, which features a host of lively collaborators.
Bea co-wrote songs with Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club and Matty Healy from The 1975, invited Georgia Ellery of Jockstrap and Black Country, New Road to contribute string arrangements and PinkPantheress also pops up. Played live, there’s ample grit and swagger to complement the bubblegum pop and choruses that demand to be sung at the top of your lungs.
