beabadoobee | Every Moment Has A Song

Beabadoobee: This is How Tomorrow Moves (2024)

If you’ve patronized your local open mic night with any regularity there’s a type of song, commonly proffered by young songwriting aspirants, that you’ve probably heard–and talked over–frequently:

A bit over-earnest. Angsty but unfocused. Marked by a single word, phrase or melodic line repeated four times (or eight). Marred by the clumsy sound of the wrong syllables being stressed (which a tweak of phrasing would have smoothed out). Overreliance on naughty words to signal “raw honesty”.

And sometimes the cathartic experience of wailing that phrase (naughty word included) eight times is enough to satisfy the writing/performing urge.

But if and when a songwriter graduates from open mic grade to something more accomplished, it’s typically attended by a move outward, from self-indulgence to a creative munificence. From “raw honesty” to emotional depth. From four-letter words to eloquence.

This is How Tomorrow Moves is the third full-length album from Beatrice Laus (aka Beabadoobee), and the one on which her transformation from open mic girl to pro is complete. It’s her first record of grown-up songs.

The heartrending “Tie My Shoes”, for example, is the work of no amateur. It may be autobiographical, but it’s crafted by a girl who has learned how to tap into something universal–and very affecting.

Bea’s juvenescent coo is a singular instrument, ideally suited to put across this reflection on a disappointing father-daughter relationship and the lack of trust unresolved feelings engender moving forward into adulthood.

A subtle harmony line in the chorus is sung high above the melody, in a child’s register, effectively manifesting the presence of both of the song’s protagonists–adult singer and young Beatrice–in a song about how the disillusionment of one is still borne by the other.

It’s a deft production touch, delicate but devastating. “Tie My Shoes” is a remarkable song and the album’s emotional center.

“Coming Home” is exactly the kind of whimsy that evokes the Juno movie soundtrack, a prime influence on a teenage Bea’s nascent songwriting efforts.

“A Cruel Affair” explores an emotional rivalry without self-pity or excessive hand-wringing. In fact it comes wrapped in a lilting bossa nova of all things.

On the other hand “Beaches” sounds like something you want to crank up in the car as you flee the traffic–or hear as a concert set encore.

Thanks to production work by the renowned Rick Rubin, the instrumentation and variety in the arrangements has expanded on album three to accommodate the leap forward in the maturity of the Filipino-British songwriter’s writing.

Rubin dressed up Beabadoobee’s music for a date with a wider audience. And she made an impression; the album debuted at number one on the UK charts.

Where the artist’s playfully meandering stream-of-consciousness lyrics first endeared her to a young audience, This is How Tomorrow Moves edges her into true singer-songwriter territory–while managing to retain the wide-eyed charm.

Where noisepop influences overwhelmed some of her early material, Rubin’s production holds the buzzy guitars in check, always in service of actual songs.

And Beabadoobee truly emotes, now that she’s stopped trying to emo.

Listen to: “Take a Bite”