With a co-sign from Matt Healey, a Brits ‘Rising Star’ nomination and a viral smash hit already under her belt, Bea Kristi AKA Beabadoobee’s debut album Fake It Flowers is highly anticipated. Inspired by the likes of Pavement and Sonic Youth, Krisit is an example of how the zeitgeist circles back and repeats itself as she brings 90s grunge back into the limelight. At 20 the Filipino-Brit wasn’t even alive in the 90s, but this fuzz-rock record could slide right onto the soundtrack for any Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode.
As production technology has become more widely accessible, gen z’s have reinvigorated the DIY movement with an abundance of bedroom pop appearing on the scene. Krisit broke into the mainstream in perhaps the most gen z way possible – via TikTok. A lo-fi remix by Canadian artist Powfu, broadcast the airy chorus of Kristi’s song ‘Coffee’ to a huge audience, reportedly played over 4 million times in a single month. This made the song the 9th most played track on the entire platform in March 2020.
From this success, many would have suspected the young star to have continued with a similar sound when producing her first album. But, Kristi has made a bold move. Not content with being known for a twee sounding artist, she has followed her passion of indie-rock and brought the guitars out.
The currently released singles act as a statement of intent. ‘Care’ is unapologetic in its apathy and raw teenage angst, while ‘Worth It’ barely settles in its dreaminess before erupting with energy. Her love of 90s is especially evident in ‘Charlie Brown’ where Nirvana’s In Utero is utilised to emphasise Kristi’s own unbridled emotion. Kristi is a badass artist for the newer generation. Following in the footsteps of fellow Dirty Hit artist Ellie Roswell (Wolf Alice), she is demonstrating to the festival organisers out there that there are talented, guitar-led female acts ready for the main stage.
But just as Cobain matched his own anger with softness, Kristi covers a range of feeling on her record by incorporating shoe-gazey tracks such as ‘Back To Mars’. Although the lo-fi moments starkly contrast that of the rock-epics, they seem perfectly appropriate for a debut record capturing that of a tumultuous, young experience.
This coming of age album is not refined, but it wouldn’t be real if it were. Kristi’s music comes from that bedroom daydreaming, diary-writing, exploratory stage of life. It is music so easily relatable to those her age and so nostalgically reminiscent for those older. Beabadoobee is an introverted rock-star finding her own way on this album. Fake It Flowers is raw, youthful, and full of anticipation, an album detailing that start of a life and a career that is sure to blossom in the years to follow.
Fake It Flowers is set for release via Dirty Hit on 16th October.
Words by Katie Manning
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