It's been a few years since Coffee Songthe song that made Beabadoobee a, excuse us, viral phenomenon. How many videos have passed before your eyes, on Instagram and TikTok, with that song in the background? We'll tell you: so many. So many cute little videos cozy. Beatrice Kristi Laus, born in 2000, a Filipina naturalized British, could have remained “the girl from that song”. And instead today we are here to talk about her new album, the third.
From that song the first record deal arrived anyway. Several EPs and two albums followed. On August 9th the album was released This Is How Tomorrow Movesand the title alone seems like a reflection on the passing of time, even if you're only 24. Bea and her guitar have been on tour in recent years with The 1975, with Clairo, with Taylor Swift (who wanted her as the opening act for her Eras Tour in 2023). Lots of things that we get told while we chat on Zoom. She's in London, she introduces me to the cats that can be glimpsed in the background. “This is Ginger,” then she frames another one sleeping in a daring position. “I also love dogs so much. I'm part of the 'less people and more animals' team,” she tells us. We can't help but agree.
Let's start from the title of the album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves. «The point is that I couldn't have gone on without having experienced everything I've talked about in this album. Let's say that in order to grow I had to face many things, go through difficult times. Life sometimes slaps you in the face, brings you back to reality».
The first single is called Take a Bite (find the video below).
“It’s a song where I realize I have this problem of constantly wanting chaos.” We watch her talk to us, it seems like the furthest thing from the definition of chaos. But underneath the facade there’s more: “I show my vulnerabilities on the record, I say things that I probably never said in my previous work. Maybe this could help me grow in real life too, who knows. Music is still the best form of therapy for me.”
The day before the interview he published a piece of Beacheswhich is “the happiest song I've ever written, it's about how we're scared to do something and instead we should dip both feet in and jump in without thinking too much. It's a hopeful song.”
As we were saying before, in these years many things have happened, some of them very quickly. When the success of Coffeewhich led her to sign a contract with Dirty Hit, the label she shares with The 1975 and Rina Sawayama, while still in high school. In Ripplesa song from her previous album, talks about feeling like “sometimes you can’t really talk” in a male-dominated music industry. In an interview two years ago with Rolling Stone USA she said, “When I signed, I was really young. Everything that was going on in my life didn't necessarily feel real, or I didn't understand what was going on. In that specific song, it's just me realizing, 'Holy shit, I'm completely lost.'”
If she was lost, she had time to find herself, and to do a lot of things that require you to throw yourself into it. For this album, for example, she flew to Malibu to work with Rick Rubin. “It was a real surprise, Rick had wanted to meet me for years, then we met but we didn't talk about the album. We talked about life, he asked me a lot of questions. I may have played a few songs here and there, but I was planning to make this album in London with only Jacob Bugden, who is co-producer. After that meeting, however, his manager called mine and asked if we could work together. I didn't think I would ever have an opportunity like that. We were in his studios for a month and a half, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He came with a lot of ideas, some that made us say: “What do we do? Are we sure?”. Or with interventions that we thought wouldn't make a big difference, and instead they changed everything. Working with Rick I learned what it means to have faith.”
Beabadoobee's music could have been written this year or twenty years ago. In her songs you can hear loud and clear references to Fiona Apple, Incubus, all that rock and pop that invaded our ears in the late 90s/early 2000s. If Buffy The Vampire Slayer were still on the air (if only!), she would undoubtedly be one of the musical guests at the Bronze. «Fiona Apple is a muse. I was attracted by her production style, by how she writes songs. Then lately I've also been listening to Elliott Smith, who I think influenced me. Then, oh well, the Beatles, always. Since I listened to them on cassette as a child. And I think that on this album their influence, on the writing, can be heard on songs like Girl's Song or as The Man Who Left Too Soon.
Going back to her early days, we ask her what her relationship with social media is today. “They are harmful, we know that now, there are studies. They are useful but also harmful. Lately I read mean comments, like someone wrote to me “who is this girl who made a record with Rick Rubin?””. I think it took a while, but those comments don’t affect me anymore. I remember one day, it was sunny, I was going to the park, I said to myself: “Oh my God, none of this is real, I’m literally going out for a walk, no one is yelling bad things at me in the street, no one is trying to run me over with their car. It’s a sunny day, nothing really matters, and I think that’s something we need to constantly remember. Focus on the positive aspects and on reality”. And what is your relationship with numbers?
«They always say that mentally you will remain at the age when you start to become famous. And so numbers are never really a problem for me. At 18 I had something more like confusion in my head, I asked myself: “why do people like me so much?”. But I felt very grateful. With social media there is this kind of comparison with everyone, I sing about it in a song on the new album called A Cruel Affair. Talk about the comparison with this
stranger I see on the Internet, beautiful but probably thinks the same things about me, who knows? You know what? In the end I just focus on my cats.”
The expectations for this album are high: «I want people to love it as much as I do. The last thing Rick Rubin said to me was, “Do you love this album?” I said, “With all my heart.” And Rick said, “Well, that’s all that matters.” I just want people to understand how hard I worked. I think it’s the first album where I wrote every single song by myself, in my house. I think you can hear it». We’ll ask the cats, too.