Fake it Flowers is a seemingly cathartic album for Bea Kristi, better known as Beabadoobee. The singer lets out all her frustrations and honest confessions about womanhood, youth, and love on the variety of songs on her first studio album. Drawing heavily from bands such as Sonic Youth and Pavement, Beabadoobee manages to bring the alternative ’90s sound to more modern themes.
Beabadoobee broke into the alternative music scene with a self-recorded release of her song “Coffee” on YouTube. After being signed to the independent record label Dirty Hit, Beabadoobee released multiple EPs, each with an acoustic, soft, indie pop sound, with the exception of 2019’s Space Cadet. This EP, featuring songs such as “I Wish I was Steven Malkmus,” gave listeners a good feel for the more rock direction Beabadoobee is heading with her recent music.
The release of Fake it Flowers was preluded by the release of the singles “Care,” “Sorry,” “Worth It,” “How Was Your Day?,” and “Together.”
“Care” is an angsty, yet upbeat song, similar to the ones you would find on the soundtrack to a ’90s teen romantic comedy. Beabadoobee voices her frustrations about being a young woman, misunderstood, or treated unjustly—and with indifference on this track. Indifference is a common theme on many of the songs on this album, such as “Sorry” and “Worth It.”
“How Was Your Day?” is more reminiscent of the types of songs listeners are accustomed to hearing from Bea on her 2018 album Patched Up. In this cute acoustic song, Bea wants to catch up with someone she misses spending both the good times and the bad times with, but she has not talked to this person in a while. She wants to know about their day and if it was OK, and underneath these questions, she really wants to know if this person misses her too. In this song, Bea reverts back to an innocent and almost childlike way of seeing if someone feels the same way as her about their relationship.
Throughout this album, Bea often reflects on events in her childhood and how they are affecting her now. This is most apparent on “Emo Song.” Bea sings about people who remind her of those she knew in her youth, the ones that lie “like all the men she used to trust.” All of these people have changed Bea—both her outlook on life and her relationships—and she sings that “it’s all your fault” to each individual person who made her the way she is today. “Emo Song” is exactly what the title describes: It’s an emotional song about the problems in her youth that negatively impacted how she feels about herself today.
Another common subject in Bea’s past songs that remain relevant on Fake it Flowers is her boyfriend, Soren. Soren had his first self-titled song on Loveworm, Bea’s sophomore EP that was basically a love letter to him. “Horen Sarrison” on Fake it Flowers carries the same feeling of love and of complete understanding that he gave her in “Soren.”
She sings that she’s “convinced [Soren] is from outer space,” which parallels the line in “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus,” in which Bea sings that she is from outer space. This line insinuates they are perfect for each other, being from the same unique place. Although Bea changes a lot and has a different musical style from other artists today, she has found someone who understands her, supports her changes, and even changes with her.
“Horen Sarrison” is full of adoration—a stark contrast to “Dye It Red,” in which Bea sings about a relationship that she feels oppresses her freedom and ability to express herself.
Fake It Flowers is the perfect album to transport listeners back to the music of the ’90s, without the repetitiveness of playing the songs they’ve heard so many times before. It is cool and different from other current music. Hopefully, Beabadoobee can continue on her own path, bringing a fresh take to the nostalgic love songs so often played on the radio today.
Photo courtesy of Dirty Hit
