MADISON BEER – EP REVIEW

Madison Beer – As She Pleases (Access Records) 

Madison Beer - As She Pleases
Release Date: Out Now

On first glance, Long Island’s Madison Beer looks like she could be another vacuous pop imprint with nothing to say and no original thoughts. Then you listen in to tunes like the ones on this new EP show you that she’s way, way more than that. Opening with ‘Dead’, Beer has a sultry voice and a heartbroken tone but at the same time she’s not having a pity party as she sings “You say can’t live without me, so why aren’t you dead yet? Why you still breathing?”. Ouch. ‘Fools’ is a lighter track with a sexy, rolling bass and those dusky vocals coming in all top-class pop princess and a chorus to die for. We’re talking Dua Lipa’s partner in crime or the direction Katy Perry wants to take on her next album but probably hasn’t got the label freedom to take.

What we find on ‘HeartLess’ is a late-night slow jam that is perfect for writhing around on silk sheets and staring at old photographs or an unresponsive phone screen. However, it is on ‘Tyler Durden’ that Beer really starts to show a glimpse of her sharpness and wit. An ode to the central character of Fight Club and a semi-violent relationship set to soft acoustic guitar notes is not the kind of stunt your average alt-pop star pulls but then this isn’t your average artist. Straight in to ‘Home with You’ and our Madison goes all Rihanna but with the attitude of Megan Fox in full diva mode while ‘Teenager In Love’ is not a reworking of the Dion & The Belmonts classic but is instead a Meghan Trainor-esque, 50s inspired love song about the excitement of the first flushes of romance. The EP (seven tracks, really?) closes with former single ‘Say It to My Face’ with it’s Latin rhythms and attitude that J-Lo wishes she had, showing yet another facet to Madison Beer’s talents. We’re not talking about the best vocalist in the world here, but we are talking about a fresh and adventurous new talent willing to write, try new things and then take that out on the road. Not to be underestimated.



Live Dates:

11th March – Dude Club, Milan
13th March – Bi Nuu, Berlin
14th March – Zoom, Frankfurt
16th March – Indra, Hamburg
17th March – Luxor, Cologne
19th March – Botanique, Brussels
20th March – Les Etoiles, Paris
22nd March – O2 ABC, Glasgow
24th March – Club Academy, Manchester
25th March – O2 Academy Islington, London
27th March – O2 Institute 3, Bimingham
28th March – The Bodega, Nottingham
30th March – Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast
31st March – The Academy, Dublin
26th April – The Belasco, Los Angeles
27th April – House of Blues, San Diego
29th April – Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix
1st May – Marquis Theatre, Denver
4th May – Parish, Austin
7th May – Delmar Hall, St. Louis
8th May – Bottom Lounge, Chicago
10th May – House of Blues, Cleveland
12th May – Saint Andrew’s Hall, Detroit
13th May – Velvet Underground, Toronto
15th May – Paradise Rock Club, Boston
16th May – The Fillmore, Philadelphia
17th May – The Gramercy Theatre, New York

20th May – Union Stage, Washington

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