We’re all in agreement that 2020 is a year brought to us from the devil himself; however it hasn’t been a total catastrophe for all. Young British-Filipino singer songwriter Beatrice Laus, aka Beabadoobee, started 2020 on a high. She found herself nominated for the Rising Star Award at the Brits and supported The 1975 on their UK Tour which I had the pleasure of attending before COVID-19 grinded the entire world, to a halt.
However, despite the turbulent present our entertainment industries are living in, many musicians are sticking their middle finger up to coronavirus as they release brand new music during this global pandemic. This October 16th, Beabadoobee shall add her name to this list of artists as she makes her album debut with the release of Fake It Flowers.
Similar to stage and label buddies, The 1975, Beabadoobee’s sound is modern but with a sneaky sense of nostalgia about it. Fake It Flowers, to me, sounds as if Avril Levine joined Wolf Alice and they decided to record indie stoner music together… This is a compliment by the way. Starting with her best foot forward, Beabadoobee opens her album with the upbeat catchy singles Care and Worth it, before progressing onto my personal favourite track, Dye It Red. Throughout her album Beabadoobee fluctuates between slow stoner indie songs and indie anthems and personally she is strongest performing the latter, hence the albums strong start.
(Beabadoobee Tour Poster)
Sadly, from here the album gets increasingly more unremarkable, never bad, just not the most memorable. What Fake It Flowers is lacking is stand out moments. Most of the album blurs into one and even though the singles are good, they aren’t strong enough to carry the rest of the albums slack. Having heard her support The 1975 back in February and knowing she has five EP’s under her belt, I can’t help but wish she had included some of those songs on this album and boosted its overall quality, but she must’ve had her reasons for not doing so.
Overall, Fake It Flowers is a decent if unremarkable Indie record that marks the beginning of a promising career in a frustratingly disappointing way. I believe that Beabadoobee is stronger than this, but for now, Fake It Flowers is a 3/5 Star Album that is best enjoyed as music to get stoned to.