Review: beabadoobee – This Is How Tomorrow Moves

beabadoobee
This Is How Tomorrow Moves
Dirty Hit
Street: 08.09
beabadoobee = Sixpence None The Richer + The Cranberries + Laufey

British indie-alternative artist beabadoobee has released her third studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves. Coming off of four singles (“Take a Bite,” “Coming Home,” “Ever Seen” and “Beaches”), beabadoobee’s 14-track project has cemented her status in the indie orbit. Born Beatrice Kristi Laus, she rose to international fame off the TikTok-propelled sample of her song “Coffee” by rapper Powfu. Following the success of that lofi-indie track, Laus has rounded out her discography with other viral singles, including the track “Glue Song” which has a collaborative version with another indie-pop queen, Clairo. Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin (known for producing projects such as The New Abnormal by The Strokes, Toxicity by System of a Down and more), This Is How Tomorrow Moves is a departure from Laus’ traditional sound but finds more solid grounding in the landing then she ever had before.

Finding instrumental influence from legendary groups like Sixpence None The Richer on tracks such as the single “Take a Bite,” beabadoobee can’t help but wear her influences on her sleeve. Laus plays a careful balance between light distorted guitars and the airy, breathy vocals that accompany the track “California.” The track sounds like it could’ve been straight out of the early 2000s, sitting on the soundtrack of some coming of age film of the time. On the next track “One Time,” bass parts reminiscent of Men I Trust come out along the chorus indie tone sitting on the guitars. Bouncing between some dream-pop and indie-rock fundamentals, this project sounds great but it doesn’t necessarily know what it wants to be (at least, in my own opinion).

This Is How Tomorrow Moves seems to be exploring all corners of indie with the charm to match; “Real Man” sounds like a cross between Lana Del Rey and Sean Ono Lennon vis-á-vis “Tomorrow Never Came,” Laufey and her pop standard influences come out as well down the project on tracks such as “Coming Home” and “Cruel Affair.” “Ever Seen” sounds like a Halsey vocal passage on top of a Phoebe Bridgers instrumental. To say that this album is littered with influences would be reading the writing on the wall. However, this can act as a double-edged sword depending on your perspective. Despite how taking the first step in diversifying her palette as an artist does come off as improvement and maturity as a songwriter, an aspect of the listening experience doesn’t feel like I’m listening to beabadoobee (for better or for worse). In fact, “Post” quickly ended up being one of my favorite tracks on the album simply because it was the most unique track I had heard on with its industrial and raw instrumentation.

The tone of the guitars act as the anchor of the project—or the home base, if you would. Whether the excellent acoustic guitar work comes from Laus herself or bandmate Jacob Bugden, the guitar felt like it could have been satisfying even by itself. Clearly influenced by The Cranberries, Laus hones in on an alternative, indie-pop noise that helps quiet and dispel any threats of being bound to the influence of her TikTok breakthrough. Taking the leap in evolution as an artist (especially on highlights of the project, “Beaches” and “Post”), she cements herself in the pop zeitgeist—though others may perceive it as an identity crisis of a sonic evolution from the artist they know and love. I guess we won’t know, however, at least until we see the way that tomorrow moves. If you wanna catch beabadoobee for yourself, her North American tour hits Salt Lake City at The Union Event Center September 21st. –Jake Fabbri

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