Beabadoobee – ‘Pylon’ review: making peace with the mess of being in your mid-twenties

There’s a very particular type of panic that swoops in once you hit your mid-twenties. It’s like you have no clue where the rest of your life is heading, and you’re somehow expected to act like an adult when you still feel like a teenager at heart. For Beabadoobee, that uncertainty has fuelled a blistering fourth album, ‘Pylon’. Inspired by the isolation, nostalgia, anger and romantic obsession that have coloured her last few years, Beatrice Laus has crafted her most forceful record yet. READ MORE: HorsegiirL proves the neighsayers wrong with her joyous, whimsical dance music The title is a fitting analogy. Pylons are fixed points on a shifting landscape, carrying power across long distances, but they’ve also acted as a reminder of home while Laus was on the road, separated from the people she loved. Musically, ‘Pylon’ marks a significant shift, too. Charged with distorted guitars, grunge, ’90s radio rock and Midwest emo, it has the collaborators to match: Hayley Williams, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall, Deftones’ Chino Moreno, Matty Healy and George Daniel all make appearances, while Title Fight’s Shane Moran co-wrote eight tracks across the collection. ...