The British singer and songwriter Beabadoobee released her fourth studio album, “Pylon,” on September 18, steering her music toward a heavier and rougher sound. The record sets aside some of the softer indie textures of her earlier work in favor of distorted guitars and a rock edge shaped by 1990s alternative music and grunge. It arrives about two years after her previous album, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves,” and marks one of the clearest shifts in tone of her career so far.
Born Beatrice Laus and based in London, the artist built an early following through home recordings before signing to the label Dirty Hit. “Pylon” continues that path while pushing her sound in a new direction. The album was released through Dirty Hit in partnership with Interscope Records, and it brings in a wide group of collaborators drawn from across the rock and alternative world.
The guest list includes Hayley Williams of Paramore, Chino Moreno of Deftones, Brendan Yates of Turnstile, Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove, and Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975. Shane Moran of Title Fight co-wrote eight of the album’s songs, helping steer its heavier feel. Williams appears on the track “Nothing To Prove,” while Moreno features on the closing song, “Satellite,” which ends the record on a darker note.
The album’s lead single, “Sun Has Set,” set up the fuller and louder approach that runs through the release. Other tracks, among them “Switchblade,” “Write Me A Letter” and “Memories,” deal with the uncertainty of early adulthood and the slow work of figuring out where one fits. The writing stays close to those doubts rather than trying to resolve them neatly.
Reviews in outlets such as NME and Rolling Stone described “Pylon” as a confident move for an artist still in her mid-twenties. Instead of smoothing over unease, the album leans into it, using bigger guitars and more forceful arrangements to match its themes. For listeners who have followed her since the beginning, the release points to a musician willing to change direction and see how far her sound can go.
