It is so cool that I still randomly find so much good music while I am just browsing the YouTubes. When it comes to me and videos of or about music, the YouTube algorithm has been killing it for so damn long. My newest favorite artist that I randomly discovered on YouTube this summer is the alt-rock act Beabadoobee. Beabadoobee(you know I did not have to and probably shouldn’t have ended and started that these sentences with the same word, but I really just wanted you to read the word Beabadoobee twice) is the stage name/name of the band created by Bea Kristy, Bea is a 19-year-old British chick that is making music that is a mixture of modern indie and alternative rock that was made way before she was born, and I really love it. Beabadoobee’s sound reminds me a lot of Blur and the Smashing Pumpkins, but it also totally gives me indie-pop vibes like The 1975. No matter who you think her music sounds like, it is impossible to deny that it is really good. Bea has stated that Space Cadet, the name of this new EP, is the closest that she has said has felt to her true sound. I would totally agree with her because this project is the most complete and mature piece of music Beabadoobee has released so far. It just sounds really natural, and you can tell that a lot of emotion was put into this music. Space Cadet is so cool and fresh, and it is definitely one of my favorite EPs released this year.
It’s funny for you, my state stays the same in outer space. It’s funny for you. It’s obvious you’ve never felt this way It’s pretty shit. My brain’s alone and no one understands…
Space Cadet gets off to a majorly emo and angsty start with the song ‘Are You Sure,’ which is one of multiple songs on this EP that I just can’t stop playing on repeat. I really really love how buzzy and noisy the production is; the low-fi elements to the production add a huge amount to the emotion on this track. ‘Are You Sure’ has an ever-changing melody that does not seem to know what it wants to do or where to go; the melody is a bit weird and sporadic which makes it sound punk as hell and do a great job of getting the listener into the mindset of Bea. This song is super relatable to me as well; I really get how she feels. It honestly does suck to not know why you are weird and sad and having no way to explain it to anyone so you can get help. In fact, every time you try to explain, people think they get it and they do not, which really frustrates you. It is pretty awesome to have those feelings relayed by someone in such cool music. The next song, ‘I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus,’ follows a similar vibe of feeling like who you are and who you want to be is not right, and just always feeling out of place. This cut is not nearly as sad and hopeless sounding as the last one, though, as Bea seems to be trying to be okay with herself and accept herself, even if her record label and management and the people around her, in general, want her to be different than who she is. This song is also obviously(judging from the title) a tribute to the band Pavement, which is Bea’s favorite band. She loves them so much that she has literally just had a DJ play their music before her shows instead of having an opener, which is pretty awesome, to be honest. ‘Sun More Often’ actually brings in a bit of a more upbeat mood, although the melody and sound of the song is even noisier and grungey than the last two songs. The juxtaposition that this creates is pretty cool. This is one of the Beabadoobee songs that I best shows off her strange and awesome writing style. A lot of her lyrics sometimes seem like unfinished thoughts; a lot of her sentences are broken and scattered, and I think this puts so much emotion into her music. I feel like I think in a similarly sporadic way and I have trouble staying on one topic, so it is cool to see this being expressed through Beabadoobee’s lyricism, whether she knows she is doing it or not. I love the just really dig the overall attitude of this song. We all really do need to get out to see and enjoy the sun more often. Life does not always have to be as crazy and complicated as you think.
She plays bass, she plays bass. Nothing matters cuz we’re both in space. Pretty sure we could never date. She plays bass, she plays bass.
‘She Plays Bass’ is my favorite song on this EP, and also definitely one of my favorite songs of the year. I mean, first of all, this song is so damn relatable; everyone knows that the girl who plays bass is the absolute coolest, so it is not a surprise that Bea immediately fell in love with her in this song. I really love the emotion that you can hear in ‘She Plays Bass,’ Bea tells these stories through her music in a way that truly feels like you are in the room with her or are friends with her. The melody of this track is the most modern-sounding on the EP, in my opinion, reminding me a lot of mid 2010s indie rock music like Alex G’s DSU. The EP closes out with the title track, and it wraps up this project so perfectly. ‘Space Cadet’ wraps up the ideas of this EP very nicely, with Bea staying with the core themes of traveling through space to run from her emotions. Throughout the EP, as she is trying to get over these feelings, there seems to be something holding her down to the ground, whether it is expectations of her or her own brain. On ‘Space Cadet,’ Beabadoobee seems to truly break free from what is holding her down, and she starts to find her happiness as she floats through space. I am really into how self-aware this song is; Bea knows she can write a happy song if she wants to, and ‘Space Cadet’ is the proof of that. ‘Space Cadet’ is just an excellent closer to this album.
Beabadoobee’s Space Cadet is such a cool and emotional and retro-sounding EP, and is easily one of my favorite pieces of music of the year. I dig everything about this sound, man. It is so raw and grungey and reminds me so much of some of my favorite 90s music. Bea seems like she was probably born in the wrong era, as she definitely is like straight out of 1991. I am very happy that she is making music in 2019, though, because we always need popular music that is raw like this. The only thing that is uncool about this project is that it is not longer, but that is okay because I am sure Bea will drop some great new music in the near future! Until then, I will be bumping Space Cadet every damn day.
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