Teenage singer-songwriter: Beabadoobee and her dreamy new EP ‘Loveworm’

When I first discovered Beabadoobee over social media last summer, I felt like I had uncovered a hidden gem of sorts. The fuzzy home videos of her in her poster-clad room, hair let down over a loose T-shirt, singing songs with her chin resting on her guitar had me nearly head over heels in love from the very beginning. Beabadoobee’s gentle vocals, her dreamy production style, and lyrics that seem to come straight out of an angsty teenage diary make her out to be an artist unlike any other I have come across before.

Beabadoobee, real name Bea Kristi, was born in Manila and raised in the U.K. She first came to the public’s attention through a fan-upload YouTube video of one of her first songs “Coffee.” While continuing to write and record songs, Bea was signed to the record label Dirty Hit, where she released her EP “Patched Up” last December. Her music is emotionally touching and real; each song on “Patched Up” makes you feel like dancing in your room, or sitting in a moving car, watching the raindrops race each other down the window glass, or walking home just before the sun is about to set. Maybe even all of the above.

With two full EPs out in less than sixth months (“Loveworm” having been released on April 26) and the rate that she is growing at right now, it is hard to believe that Bea is only 18 years old. In fact, she often talks about the struggles of studying for school exams while rehearsing for gigs and of course, writing more songs. The fact that Bea is a teen as well, still trying to fit her life’s puzzle pieces together, makes her music incredibly relatable. It is almost as if her songs are a close-up look into the crowded mind of a teenage girl.

“Loveworm” is Beabadoobee’s most recent EP. Each of the seven tracks on “Loveworm” has its own backstory and real life inspirations — Bea’s confessions about love and hurt and everything in between. The first track on the EP is “Disappear,” a mellow and emotionally heavy song full of gentle chord progressions. In her interview with Billboard, Bea states that “Disappear” is about how love has the strange power to take over someone’s mind, then all of a sudden disappear without a trace.

“Disappear” sounds like something you would play lying in your room at 2 in the morning, as you pretend your life is just one big movie. My personal favorite on “Loveworm” is “Apple Cider.” The song represents the innocence of having a crush, how it can leave someone in a confused daze that doesn’t go away.

The upbeat guitar melody in “Apple Cider” immediately throws you into a happy mood; it simply makes you want to dance around aimlessly and scream to the lyrics. With the release of “Loveworm,” Beabadoobee has proved her talent in songwriting, and there is definitely great promise for the future.

I think what I love most about Beabadoobee is how raw and real everything about her music career so far is. She scribbles down song lyrics while doing her school work, and plays out chords and tunes in her room, under her Tom Hanks poster and colorful fairy lights. She frequently interacts with fans on her Instagram. She shows us her favorite films, her music setup at home, and the things taped up on her bedroom walls.

Her songs are a direct product of her very real emotions, and somehow she manages to turn what is jumbled up and confusing into something beautiful. She is a teen, and like the rest of us, she is still figuring things out. Her music, if anything, reminds her audience that they are not alone.