‘Fake It Flowers’ sees her fuse ‘90s grunge fused with bedroom indie music

Rising artist beabadoobee has had an interesting ascent to fame, to say the least. She released the mellow, lo-fi track “Coffee” in 2018. The singer had a relatively low budget at the time, as she only recorded music in her London bedroom, which probably added to her “bedroom pop” sound.

Nearly a year and a half after her 2018 single, Canadian artist Powfu remixed the track, releasing what’s popularly known as “death bed (coffee for your head).” The song went viral via social media platform TikTok and was reportedly played over 4.2 billion times in March 2020 through the video-sharing platform alone.

The remix propelled both Powfu and beabadoobee into the spotlight, causing them to become somewhat household names. With all eyes on them, beabadoobee knew that it was time to make her voice heard. Leaving much of her acoustic lo-fi music in the past the singer has plugged in the guitars and turned to her love for grunge.

The artist’s new album, Fake It Flowers, is far from what attracted most of her fans to her, as she unleashes her raw emotions through alt-heavy indie rock. Over 12 tracks, beabadoobee delivers a sound familiar to much of her past work, as she remains chaotic, independent and intimate. However, her sound has become much more polished and cleaner since her last EPs Patched Up and Loveworm.

On Fake It Flowers, the singer rides a fine line between alternative grunge and introverted indie-pop. Rather than tiptoe down the line, however, she seems to fly full force right down the line, as she leans heavily into both genres without letting one overtake the other. The explosive, powerful guitar riffs on tracks such as “Sorry” and “Care” rival slowed-down melodies such as “Back To Mars,” yet they represent a fair balance between the singer’s inspirations.

It’s clear that, despite beginning her career with melodic, lullaby-like indie music, beabadoobee has different inspirations on her mind this time around. In essence, she looks to be a rising force in the same vein as Alanis Morrissette or Paramore’s Hayley Williams.

It’s easy to forget that the genre of grunge rose in the 90s due to teenagers looking for something new that’s different from the same old songs. It’s a feeling that many of us face nowadays, as we search for the diamond in the rough that is mainstream music filled with the same pop-rap formula that’s been used for a decade.

Top tracks include “Worth It,” the aforementioned “Care,” and the passionate ballad “How Was Your Day?” On the latter song, beabadoobee delivers one of her most intimate tracks in years, as she sings “You used to miss me / Guess it’s not hard to believe / That things have to change like the weather and the days.”

While Fake It Flowers may only be her debut studio album, she’s already come a long way from where she was three years ago. As she delivers cleaner, more polished music that’s more intimate than ever before, beabadoobee sounds extremely comfortable delivering the music that she wants to create. She couldn’t care less whether or not there’s a fanbase for that music, but it’s that quality of creating original music that only entices new followers more.

Review: 4/5