From ‘Blame Brett’ to Big Grown-Up Feelings: The Beaches on chaos, closure, and co-writing
No Hard Feelings, just a long list of red flags. The Beaches return with bops, boundaries, and better taste in men.
Photo: Meg Moon
Following the viral heartbreak spiral that was Blame My Ex, The Beaches are back! Their new upcoming album No Hard Feelings trades ex-bashing for emotional debriefs — still messy, still loud, but now with more space for honesty, sisterhood, and collective healing. We sat down with the band to talk shitty relationships, sonic therapy, and what happens when four girls stop internalising and start harmonising.
Let’s take it from the top — for anyone late to the party, can you give us the origin story of The Beaches in 60 seconds or less?
YES! Kylie and I (Jordan) are sisters, we’ve been playing together since we were six and seven years old. Our childhood friend Eliza joined the band in middle school. Leandra joined in high school. We’ve been playing professionally together for 12 or so years. A couple of years back, we had our song Blame Brett go viral on tik tok, and our lives have been pretty crazy ever since.
Your last album Blame My Ex was a smash — emotionally, sonically, and let’s be real, virally. Looking back on that release, what do you feel it cracked open for you as a band?
I was going through a break-up at the time, and it was kind of the only thing that I could write about you know. It was all-consuming and I was so devastated, and writing the record was really a therapy session. I think that breakups and heartbreaks are just a super universal experience, and thats why the songs touched so many people. Plus all the covid relationships were ending when the song was released, so heartbreak was permeating the atmosphere back then.
What’s changed in your writing process between Blame My Ex and No Hard Feelings? Are there new rituals, revelations, or just more Notes app full of feelings and rage-typed lyrics about immature men with guitars?
There are actually a bunch of new writers that we worked with on this project! Sam Willows, Gus Van Gogh, Lowel and Karah James are back on No Hard Feelings, but we also worked with G Flip, Justin Tranter, and DCF on this project, and each co-writer adds their own unique perspective and flavour to the record. The writing process didn’t change too much; we pretty much wrote each song in the room the same way we did with Blame My Ex.
You’ve carved out a space as a band that feels as DIY as it does stadium-ready. Do you feel like the industry is finally catching up to you, or are you still dragging it by the collar?
I think we were lucky enough to have our big break after putting ten years of work in. A lot of bands have their viral moment before they’ve ever played a show, which, in my opinion, is such a huge disadvantage. I don’t know. I don’t really know if there is a right or wrong way to find success in this business — I think that you have to find a strategy that works best for you, and to find a good team and a great manager who helps you carve your own path.
Looking back now, what track off Blame My Ex feels the most like a time capsule — something you’ve grown past emotionally, but are still proud to have written down?
Of course, Blame Brett. That song changed our lives.
Sonically, are there new risks or surprises on this album that longtime fans might not expect? Anything you recorded and thought, ‘Wait, are we allowed to sound like that?’.
I’d say that this record has a bunch of songs that feel more sincere. It was very difficult to be so vulnerable and not to rely on our dark humour as much as we did when talking about heartbreak (that’s something we definitely did a lot on Blame My Ex), but I’m glad we tried to be more candid with how sad these situations can be.
Takes One To Know One feels like the emotional hangover to Blame My Ex. Like, okay, maybe they sucked — but maybe you were also a little bit unhinged? What sparked that shift in perspective?
Therapy… [Laughs]
Last Girls At The Party might be one of the most brutally fun things you’ve ever released. What’s the story behind that track — and do you still find yourselves being those girls, or was this more of a goodbye note to that era?
We wrote that song with our mate, G Flip, on our last writing trip to LA. We’ve been friends with them for years, and had always wanted to write with them. It was very adorable, they brought out a whiteboard, and made us make a list of all the things we wanted for the song we wrote together (fast tempo, chaotic energy, cool drum part, party anthem vibes, etc). I think that they really wanted to consider how it would sound live too, which is something not everyone in the LA writing scene considers. It was just a super fun session, and we’re thrilled with the song that came out of it.
If Blame My Ex was about getting over someone, is No Hard Feelings more about getting over yourselves, or at least making peace with your own chaos? What’s the emotional centre of this new record — and who are you becoming through it?
I would say that Blame My Ex was an exploration into my experience with heartbreak. No Hard Feelings expands the world of heartbreak (and then self-doubt and mental health issues that connect to heartbreak) to the other band members. No Hard Feelings is meant to be viewed like the diner scenes in Sex In The City: four girls connecting over their shitty relationships — and being there for each other while doing that.
What’s next after No Hard Feelings drops? Manifestations, chaos, another DJ set in a basement venue that smells like tequila and hope?
More shows, more chaos, more parties, more fun, more self-reflection and maybe hopefully some better relationships!
Spoiler: they’re still the last girls at the party, but now they’ve got boundaries.
No Hard Feelings is out August 29th via AWAL. Pre-order from Rough Trade here.