Heading into breezy Pop territory this Lunch hour with a set from Beabadoobee, recorded at the 2021 Head In The Clouds Festival in Los Angeles.
Much as I like to go on explorations of the new, interesting and overlooked, sometimes it’s a matter of just looking around and seeing what the Pop landscape is all about these days. Like I always say, borrowing from The Residents; “Ignorance Of Your Culture Is Considered Uncool” – so there.
This afternoon, giving a nod to the Pacific-Rim is Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus, known professionally as beabadoobee (stylized in all lowercase), is a British-Filipino singer-songwriter born in Iloilo, Philippines, who relocated to the UK when she was three. From 2018 to 2021, she released five extended plays (EPs) under the independent label Dirty Hit: Lice (2018), Patched Up (2018), Loveworm (2019), Space Cadet (2019) and Our Extended Play (2021). Her debut studio album Fake It Flowers was released in October 2020, and received critical acclaim. Her second studio album, Beatopia, was released on 15 July 2022, which spawned the hit “The Perfect Pair“. Her third studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves, was released on 9 August 2024; it became her first album to peak atop the UK Albums Chart.
Beabadoobee served as a supporting act for labelmates the 1975 during several legs of their Music for Cars Tour, as well as American singer Clairo‘s Immunity Tour, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour and Taylor Swift‘s the Eras Tour. She was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards, and was presented with the Radar Award at the 2020 NME Awards. Beabadoobee was also predicted as a breakthrough act for 2020 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2020.
Beabadoobee’s music is catchy, hook-laden and likable. It’s not surprising she was nominated for a Rising Star Award and also predicted to be high on everyone’s radar in 2020.
Further evidence keeping an open mind is mandatory and being an old fart is frowned upon.
Crank it up and enjoy lunch.