‘Care’ opens with such confidence and sounds like a classic opening number; the early 00’s vibe of it all is honestly a joy to revel in and feels like it should close a rom con from back in the day. It maybe the artists attempt to nail down something thats radio friendly which is totally understandable as if you can get this nostalgia trip to a large audience, they are going to love it! The song though is possibly my highlight of the album, which isn’t to say thats a bad thing, just a little a shame that I don’t return to that level of enjoyment. We then follow into a song similar in vein with ‘Worth It’ thats about the temptations of life but with a positive sonic sound, yet the chorus is not that interesting despite the guitars being reasonably catchy and the bass is also note worthy.
‘Dye It Red’ reeks of Nirvana with the bass tones and rhythm guitar within the verses, however that disappears as it flows into a Pale Waves like chorus that is obviously very poppy. The mix of the two aspects of the song is commendable, it does not feel stingy but a lot of fun! The lyrics of the song follows stories that the singer has heard about boys who have been tossers and horrible people to her friends. Then the innocence of ‘Back To Mars’ fits with the title that is nod back at her old EP and comes along very quickly, gracing with a sense of acoustic elegance.
‘Charlie Brown’ is possibly the heaviest track on the album and the attempt is pretty good! I was curious to see how beabadoobee’s vocals will end up with this track and I think the lack of actual ‘screams’ (the vocals are lost in the mix) fit with her bubblegum-grunge style, however I wish the song took a different turn that so many grunge classics do like with Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. ‘Emo Song’ tackles aspects of the artists childhood and the whole song does have a sweet vibe to it and with its production, again a nod to her space infused EP that was released the other year. With regards to the songwriting, there is a sense of falling back to well curated tricks which does leave me wanting her to push her songwriting and not take every idea back to an influence…it may come later down the line but I do hope sooner rather than later. ‘Sorry’ oozes with emotion, you can gear beabadoobee nearly welling up on the recording, it really does hit home the honesty and purity. Sadly it feels a bit cringe with its melody and is rather uninteresting musically, it really does not make you excited about what its othering.
The hope and a feel of Disney arrives (I know, it just made me feel that!) on ‘Further Away’ and this song tackles the bad people who try to bring you down. It sounds very pretty and is executed very well, the strings are done beautifully and the subtle nature of the overall song ensures the songs meaning is brought across well. There does seem like a real sense of identity for a change on this song, which is a sign of better things in the future and it may help some to still be engaged as we enter the last parts of the record. The very long ‘Horen Sarrison’ will please a lot of fans for sure, it dives deep into love and the whole aesthetic of beedadoobee, that naturally fans of her will love! The more synth like strings is a nice change in sound also, it gives a different layer that goes a long way.
I find it interesting to hear a single that needs the albums context to make more sense’ and How Was Your Day?’, with its rough recording, is one of those! The melody is lovely and now hearing this cut within the LP, it’s a lot better and fits the whole bedroom vibe of the artist. Next, ‘Together’ hits you with its cleaner production, especially with the bass arriving in the first second, then also the heaver guitars sounding very very good. Overall it sounds so cool, the percussion drives the song along which gives this number a great band feel to it. The names that beebadoobee wants to name her children is the title of the final track. ‘Fake It Flowers’. ‘Yoshimi, Forest and Magdalene’ includes two drums from what I can hear and the Wolf Alice inspired closer is fun but I was left a bit underwhelmed, it had to be a big jam that became a song?
Written by Tom Bedding
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