Pylon is a shocking display of growth from beabadoobee, and is not only her best album, but one of the year’s best.
Release date: September 18, 2026 | Dirty Hit Records | Instagram | Website
Honestly, I never was a huge fan of beabadoobee in the past. I’ve listened to almost everything she’s made, but outside of Space Cadet and most Beatopia, I’ve never really been wowed by anything. She joined the bedroom-pop wave late; right as most of the larger artists had already begun moving on to bigger and better things, and in a way it’s felt like she’s been in a constant state of playing catchup to the Clairo’s of the world since day one. Doesn’t help that she appears to be at least somewhat bothered by this perception. After being thoroughly unimpressed by her third album, I wasn’t going into Pylon expecting much. I came away completely shocked at the improvements and just how much I loved it.
Production has never been an issue in the past for beabadoobee, but the production on Pylon is still a big level-up that greatly improves what was already a strength of past albums. The title track is an excellent start to the album, and I really enjoy the way it at times sounds like the Aerosmith song from Armageddon (good movie) before it blossoms into a much more grungy track towards the back end. “Radio” is the much more mature, layered, and intricate sibling of beabadoobee’s early tracks like “She Plays Bass” or “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus”; and it’s equally satisfying to hear the improvements that have come on the writing side as it is on the production end. It’s one of the simpler tracks of the album, but the inclusion of Hayley Williams as primarily a background singer on “Nothing To Prove” works perfectly, and avoids falling into the trap some of her disciples make where Hayley does too much and overpowers the track vocally.
It’s not a surprise for the production to get better; beabadoobee‘s albums have always had solid production, and she’s made hits in the past. What is surprising is just how much more confident she is on Pylon. Every second of the album reveals an artist that’s really coming into their own and figuring out what they want to do, and most importantly, pushing past their own limits.
I straight-up did not think she had the vocal chops to pull off “Satellite”. Not to say beabadoobee has a bad voice, but the bedroom-pop material that started her career is not known for being tough to make, yet she closes the album on a career best track built around screaming out some highs that would have seemed unfathomable a few years ago. The track is structured excellently, as it starts off very familiarly slow; that only helps sell the shit out of how good the song gets on the highs of the chorus. “In Motion” is almost as good though. It’s the one other hint about how much confidence she’s gained as a singer, because you can really hear her voice strain to (successfully) hold the louder and more aggressive singing on the bridge and the outro.
Going beyond the spike in confidence as a performer, Pylon is also clearly the best written album of her four albums. I’ve never heard beabadoobee ever really make an attempt to lean into anger before lyrically, and yet she nails it immediately on “Sun Has Set” and “Switchblade”. Both serve as excellent sources of release for post-breakup frustration, and “Sun Has Set” especially would be my favorite beabadoobee track to date if “Satellite” didn’t steal the title later on.
The more sentimental tracks aren’t any worse for wear despite this shift. If anything, the added vulnerability actually made “Write Me A Letter” hit harder. I adore the hook and the quick bouncy verses, and the heartfelt track comes off better as you’ve seen both sides of the emotional spectrum. I also love “Powerlines” with Turnstile‘s Brandon Yates. The bassy atmosphere is incredible, and it’s one of her more palpably horny and intimate tracks ever.
If it wasn’t clear by now, I’ll spell it out even clearer – I’m shocked at how much I liked Pylon. I just did not see this level of growth in confidence or quality on the horizon for beabadoobee. It seemed to me she had settled into a place career wise where the music would be steady and consistent but never really rise past that or sink to anything much worse than that. I absolutely got that wrong.
Pylon is legitimately one of my favorite albums of the year so far and is in the running for my actual favorite. I never would have guessed that would be the case at the start of the year, especially considering I did not like her last album, but the growth from beabadoobee was simply undeniable. The confidence, the quality, and the improved production coalesced perfectly on her fourth album, and I can’t wait to hear how this progress continues on her fifth.
