Review: beabadoobee’s Fake It Flowers
Ordinarily, at this point in the year, we’d be approaching gig season. Although the music scene is
looking a little quieter this time around, Beabadoobee’s new album, Fake it Flowers, harnesses all the energy you’re missing from live performance.
It’s a musical revival of the Tumblr era in the best kind of way; a compilation of moody nostalgia
channelled through heavy guitars and Bea’s sugar-sweet vocals. She often cites Mazzy Star and The
Cranberries as creative influences, and it’s easy to see why. Fake it Flowers is bedroom pop meets
90s girl rock, managing to simultaneously offer the future of alt-pop while nodding to its past.
Beabadoobee is best known for TikTok anthem ‘Coffee’; a subdued, rainy Sunday kind of song you’ll
have done well not to have heard sampled by lofi artist Powfu. But, with her debut album, the
whimsical cosiness of her earlier songs has been turned on its head.
The opening track ‘Care’ sets the scene perfectly, beginning the album with melodic softness that is
interrupted, just seconds in, with guitar riffs and audacity. This intro perfectly showcases the duality
of Bea; she is quiet and loud all at once. The energy of the intro is carried on throughout the album
on songs like ‘Charlie Brown’ and ‘Dye It Red’ – an anthem of autonomy for teen girls around the
world. She doesn’t forget her roots, however. Tracks like ‘Back to Mars’ and ‘How Was Your Day’
stay true to her lo-fi beginnings, and offer moments of stillness within an album that moves full
speed ahead. The finisher, ‘Yoshimi Forest Magdalene’, is something else entirely; ending the album
with playful apathy that can only be admired.
The seasons change often in a teenage bedroom but Fake it Flowers covers all bases. There are
songs to dance to, songs to cry to, and songs to stare out your window to. It’s an album which doesn’t care whether or not you like it – and that’s exactly why you do.
Fake it Flowers is out on 16/10/2020.
