Beabadoobee Channels Her Inner Lizzy Grant
How are you? How is this week feeling for you?
I'm pretty anxious. If I'm being honest, just like the anticipation of the album is quite nerve wracking, but I feel very excited. I'm currently rehearsing.
How did the creative process behind this album differ from the last two?
I had been through a lot of specific things in my life that kind of slapped me back into reality. Prior to this album, I was writing about events that I had not quite understood what was actually going on in the situation, I would always constantly blame people.
And I think the things that had happened within the two year mark of writing this album definitely made me realize that at times I could be, I could be unhealthy and toxic in certain situations. So it was, it's basically me just finally accepting my own fault.
Would you call it an accountability album, in a way?
Definitely like, oh I needed to write the songs to understand what I was going through better. It's basically a growing up record.
What was it like working with Rick Rubin?
It was amazing. Honestly, he is such an amazing person, and the one thing I took from the experience was that I should feel confident in my own songwriting. And I think he made me realize that a lot.
How did he do that? Was it just like in talks with you, or just like a lot of one on one time?
It was a mixture of all that. When we first got into Shangri-La [Rubin’s studio], we had all these demos me and Jacob, Jacob Bogdan, who co-produced this record had made, and so we were kind of excited to show these demos to Rick, and he was like, I don't want to hear any of the demos. I just want to hear the songs the way you wrote them in your house. So the next day, we played him the entire record acoustically, like how I wrote it to begin with, and I had realized that all the songs sound good as it is, and I could probably release them as it is, you know, minus the production and minus all the instrumentation. And that's kind of when I realized, oh, like, I like my songwriting. This is pretty cool. And I think I needed that confidence to continue making this record with him.
When you were writing this record what art were you consuming?
I wear my references on my sleeve, almost, and it's always been Elliot [Smith] throughout my music, but I was listening to a lot of new music, like Pine Grove, and I got really into Fiona Apple. I took a lot of inspiration from them, but the most inspiration I got was from everything that I had experienced.
So going through a breakup and falling back in love again, and you know the drama around that, and you know, just the drama of everything that had happened in those two years.
I saw the clip of “Real Man” that you posted online. What do you think when people tell you you’re “Fiona Apple-coded”?
It's funny when people say that, because with that song, I guess Fiona was a reference… but it was actually Lana Del Rey — Lizzy Grant-era — I was definitely referencing.
I'm so honored to be even compared to Fiona Apple, but there's only one Fiona Apple, and there's only one of me. So, yeah, I can't take it… it seems disrespectful to Fiona. She's amazing. She's too amazing for my own good.
When you write songs, what is your creative process? Do the melodies come first? The lyrics?
The chords come first because I usually write on guitar, and then I find the melody and then the lyrics come quite naturally.
When you're asleep, do you ever have chord progressions come to you? Or when you go on walks? I know for a lot of writers, lyrics will come to them whenever they’re in motion.
It's definitely not chords, because that'd be like some genius shit. It's mostly melodies I hum, melodies that I really like, or even phrases that people say that kind of stick to me. I note it on my phone.
Earlier, you said you were anxious, but how do you think you'll feel when its out?
I've been using a very strange comparison describing it. Every time I talk about the leading up to the release of this record, it feels like I've been bursting for the toilet, for ages, and on Friday, when it comes out, I’ll finally reach the toilet and I can just fucking breathe. Basically.
That's a great metaphor, honestly. Do you recognize this album as more of a concept album?
In a way, you could argue any album is a concept because you're writing in a certain period of time in your life. So I guess This Is How Tomorrow Moves is a bit of a concept album, but it's just me kind of navigating my way through this newfound womanhood I'm trying to understand.
When you look back at your songs, do you ever feel a bit cringe, like, “Oh, I'm not going through that now”…
I definitely used to, but now writing this record, I kind of cut myself a lot of slack, especially with my first record, Fake It Flowers, I couldn't really listen to the songs without cringing out. But now I look back at it so fondly, and I realized I had to go through all those things to be able to write the music I make now.
What was the most difficult song to write on the record?
Probably, “Tie My Shoes”, or, “This Is How It Went.”
Why?
[For] “This is how it went,” I was writing about a situation that happened to me on that exact day. So it word for word describes the tea being spilled in that song. I was going through a lot of emotions, and it was very intense to me to write and then [for] “Tie My Shoes,” I kind of delve into my past childhood trauma to try and understand it whilst I was writing that song.
Did opening for Taylor Shift change how you're going about this album and how you go about performing now?
It'd be stupid to say if it didn't, because I saw her every night and I have so much respect for her as an artist and as a performer. Because I was on the road with her for a little bit, I watched her show every night and realized that she's obsessed with bridges.
So on this record, I really took my time when I wrote the bridges, and I have Taylor to thank for that. And just like all the music I listened to, I kind of subconsciously reference within my music. Especially songs like, “Ever Seen,” I was listening to “Begin Again,” by Swift all the time, and that kind of made an influence on that song.
With Kimchi and Miso your kitties, when are you planning on releasing new merch?
We actually have but I decided to just kind of sit on it for a little bit before this album comes out.
Are they [the cats] involved in this record at all?
Well, they're a huge inspiration to me. So [the song], “Coming Home,” is about them and their dad and my boyfriend.
Everyone is talking about you and Rob from Love Island. Do you have anything you'd want to say to him? You are not only his favorite musical artist, but you're also his big celebrity crush…
It's cool that he's mentioned my music so much and that he loves the music. I definitely want to send a vinyl out to him. I really appreciate his support and stuff. I don't know what he's like as a person or what he's like in the show, but I'm glad that he put so many people on to my music. So thanks Rob!
