BLAST OFF INTO THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT PAST
Her moniker might not roll off the tongue, but 19-year-old newcomer Beabadoobee’s 90s-inspired grunge goes down smoothly
Beadadoobee’s backstory is one we’re all familiar with: aspiring artist puts out a clip of themselves playing acoustic guitar in their bedroom on YouTube. The video goes viral, et voilà, a star is born. For Manila-born, London-based singer-songwriter Bea Kristi, it all began in 2017 with a cover of Karen O’s The Moon Song and her own composition, a two-minute-long acoustic number called Coffee. The latter, set to simple guitar chords and earnest lyrics, has since inspired several covers performed by fans all around the world.
Over the span of less than three years, the self-taught guitarist has gone on to release a total of five EPs, two of which — Lice, Patched Up — came out in 2018, while the rest — Loveworm, Loveworm (Bedroom Sessions) and now Space Cadet — have dropped this year. Unlike its bedroom-pop predecessors, the new five-track EP represents a significant shift in Beabadoobee’s sound and consolidates her ardent love for 90s grunge and alt-rock stylings.
Opener Are You Sure leads with fuzzy guitars before maximising on the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic pioneered by bands like the Pixies and Nirvana. On the lyrical front, Kristi taps into teen angst and escapism (“My state stays the same in outer space… It’s obvious you’ve never felt this way/ My brain’s alone and no one understands”). Similar themes are also explored on I Wish I Was Stephen Malkus, a song dedicated to her idol, and the title track where she sings about “feeling shit” and how a “candyfloss made spacecraft took the dirt out from [her] brain” and “threw them out to outer space”.
She Plays Bass alludes to her bass player/best friend on whom she has a crush (“How I wish we could just date/ So you could teach me how to be more like you”). Sun More Often, meanwhile, addresses her willingness to make changes in life and brave the world outside of her bedroom (“Keep your head down low/ ’Cause is it the sound, or is it the way things go? If you tried you’ll see/ That the world’s not as scary as it seems”).
Quotable lyrics: “Let loose, we live only for a little while/ In hindsight, we’ll die anyways/ Extraterrestrial beings probably sittin’ tight/ Waiting to blow our brains away” (Space Cadet). The verdict: Kristi’s deep love for 90s indie rock gets translated into this EP with admirable conviction. Lyrically, there’s still some polishing to be done (all that space talk does get a little tedious after a while), but she’s proven yet again that her potential is, well, out of this world.
Listen to this: Are You Sure, I Wish I Was Stephen Malkus, She Plays Bass.