“This Is How Tomorrow Moves” by Beabadoobee (Dirty Hit Records)
This should be automatic. An effortlessly cool English alt-pop performer who has opened for Taylor Swift releases an album produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, and the rest falls in place. But the best laid plans sometimes fall short and beabadoobee’s third studio album, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves,” doesn’t quite move the needle.
Beabadoobee, whose real name is Beatrice Kristi Laus, worked with Rubin in his legendary Shangri-La studio in Malibu for the 14-track aural exploration — a far cry from the London bedroom where she started her career. The album covers themes of self-acceptance and personal growth. While the songwriting is smart, the delivery feels a bit disconnected and vexed. Often, her voice is too slight against the sounds around her.
In track order, we’ll quickly move past the opener, “Take A Bite,” which frankly sounds too much like Incubus’ “Drive” in both lyric structure and musical phrasing to be merely referential.
The good stuff begins on “One Time,” “Tie My Shoes,” and “Girl Song.” Here, beabadoobee hits her sweet spot. “One Time” is a medium-paced track wherein the songwriter casts a bit of shade and judgement about a paramour who faked it a little too much. She sings out here, loudly, and it sounds more earnest in emotion than the preceding tracks mired in a wall of guitar.
“Girl Song” could be brushed aside as a low-rung soft piano ballad, but it deserves a deeper listen. It’s slow, it’s introspective and it is guaranteed to unleash a tear or two when beabadoobee sings at the end of the chorus, “And there’s something I can’t say in an ordinary way,” leading to the refrain: “Day like no other, and just another bad day.”
This is an OK album with some excellent songs and a fair bit of filler. At the end of it all, beabadoobee remains a musical force to be respected.RON HARRIS, MDT/AP
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