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Beabadoobee review – singer-songwriter cautiously ups the rock ante
She continues to draw on a huge range of styles but, for all her self-doubt, there’s a new swagger developing in her live set
Beabadoobee’s stage decor – huge white drapes, an artfully placed stepladder and a dozen cans of paint – heavily implies that the indie rock singer-songwriter is in the middle of a transformation. Opener and sun-blasted recent single California makes the same case: “Wanted to change, it took a big fight,” she sings, leaning out to an eager crowd. There’s a nonchalance to tonight’s opening run; across songs from all three albums, Laus sings about making out and self-harm with a lightness of touch and sets the room pogoing with a beckoning hand for 10:36, her 2022 single about deep loneliness.
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