Beabadoobee – Pylon

Beabadoobee’s latest release, Pylon, sonically shares the same DNA as her earlier records Fake It Flowers and Beatopia, tangled up in the uncertainty and anger that once characterised these albums.

She opens with Pylon; it’s instrumental-heavy with sounds that evoke a late-night city feel, similar to The 1975’s Please Be Naked. She relays to the listener the sights and scenes she encounters in this long road of her relationship, using pylons as landmarks that connect her and her lover. Sun Has Set follows with the same melodic throughline as Pylon, describing the loss of second chances in a relationship and the unfortunate lack of closure in a messy break-up.

Switchblade has an uncanny rhythm to it that feels disconnected from its lyrical delivery. Beabadoobee openly sings of her struggle with adulthood – the untempered emotions with nowhere to go, so she keeps it all in, to the point of exhausting herself. She sings the verses and the chorus in a continuous, connected manner, creating an illusion of endless hopelessness that fatigues the listener. It reflects her own turmoil with the reality of growing up and her lack of control.

Write Me a Letter continues the same theme of confusion in adulthood; this time, Beabadoobee seeks guidance from someone she claims knows her “better”. The beat is cheerful and energetic, contrasting with the detached and insecure tone set by the lyrics. It’s Alright is almost like a response to the former, once again addressing an individual who gets Beabadoobee “like nobody else”. Except, this time, she highlights how this person has manipulated her with the promise of understanding, only to waste her time in the end.

Powerlines, featuring Brendan Yates, uses nature-focused lyricism, incorporating rain as a form of pathetic fallacy, while recalling the theme of pylons and connection from the title track. Beabadoobee describes the tragedy in missing someone, so much so that she begins to build an illusion of something beautiful and peaceful in that relationship. Her reality, away from her love, is much darker and grittier, a pain only relieved by the fantasy of companionship.

Despite That uses the passage of time and the change of the season to symbolise longing for her lover. There’s ambiguity about whether they’re still together, with the line, “You’re gone when I get home,” echoing a dull ache of acceptance. Still, Beabadoobee exhibits the tiniest flicker of hope when she closes the song with “I’ll still pick up the phone”.

The whole record has a melancholic, lonely vibe; the artist herself fluctuates between sadness, anger and loss of motivation. While This Is How Tomorrow Moves showcased how she has matured, this new addition to her discography calls back to those same confused feelings found in her earlier work – not because she has regressed, but because adulthood and reality have become so overwhelming, they echo similar sensations to those she felt in her younger years. This makes Pylon complex and sonically riveting, with anthems for those lost in their mid-20s.

Mae Trumata
Image: Erika Kamano

Pylon is released on 18^th September 2026. For further information or to order the album, visit Beabadoobee’s website here.

Watch the video for Sun Has Set here: