At first, Beabadoobee’s playful innocence was her trump card. Uploading songs to the internet as a teen, there was a refreshing lack of pose – everything was open, and her feelings were blissfully unfiltered. Even now, though, as she reaches her third album, the template hasn’t really changed, so much as it’s been finessed – ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ has a certain maturity to it, but it all feels natural, and unforced. A record that contains some of her most striking work yet, it offers further proof that Bea is racing out ahead of her peers.
If 2020 debut album ‘Fake It Flowers’ and follow-up ‘Beatopia’ found Bea attempting to navigate the world, then ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ is rather more internal. Moving with intention, embracing emotion, it’s often strikingly autobiographical, paired to music that is rich in her melodic gifts, while quietly evolutionary.
Opener ‘Take A Bite’ sits in a neat 90s pop lane, reminiscent of Tori Amos or those early Fiona Apple cuts. It’s a style Bea has long mastered, leading neatly into the appropriately West Coast framing of ‘California’.
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Blessed with a nigh-on endless cupboard of hooks, Beabadoobee litters the new record with her melodic magic. Even when she tones it down – the introspective acoustic sounds on ‘Real Man’ or the grunge river that floods ‘Post’ – it’s undeniable, a sense that once you’ve heard a Beabadoobee song, you’ll never forget it.
Yet often ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ is at its best when it supplies something totally unexpected. ‘Girl Song’ swaps her trusty guitar for some McCartney-esque notes on piano, while the chirruping innocence of ‘Coming Home’ is sheer bossa nova.
When Beabadoobee digs into her bedrock, though, you can’t help but fail to fall for her magic. ‘Everseen’ is a slick, arena-worthy dose of 75-adjacent pop, ‘One Time’ is an astute heartbreaker – such a shame you don’t cross my mind / but you did this one time…” – while the charming ‘Beaches’ might well be the best song the Lemonheads didn’t get round to recording.
A record of understated progression, perhaps the most marked aspect of ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ is the shift in Beabadoobee’s lyrical perspectives. Gaining the insights of maturity she’s unafraid to shine the light on herself, resulting in moments of quiet yet extreme emotion. Closing with hushed plea ‘This Is How It Went’ – “oh please let me go to sleep” – ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ offrs Beabadoobee a broader canvas, etched in by fine brushstrokes.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
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