“This Is How Tomorrow Moves” by Beabadoobee: One Year On
- Magda Kanecka
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
By Magda Kanecka I August 2025
9 August marked one year since the release of Beabadoobee’s third studio album, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves”, and with Beabadoobee being my all-time favourite artist, I am taking the opportunity to appreciate Bea’s achievements during this era, as we look ahead into the future of her music.
The record-breaking chart performance of “This Is How Tomorrow Moves” earned Bea her first number-one charting record in the UK. Getting to see her perform at a Banquet Records album release show the day before this was announced was truly magical, and looking back on it, the emotions Bea described during the concert made much more sense when the announcement was made.
Ever since the album was announced with Beabadoobe’s release of the single “Take A Bite” in the spring of 2024, I knew she would live up to the high expectations I had of this release, both in live and studio versions. The live performances of this album have been particularly worth noting, with Bea’s voice truly being one of a kind in its ability to convey a strong message through fun melodies – and I think “Real Man” does this exceptionally well through expressing disappointment in maturity levels between herself and a male counterpart: “I guess no one ever taught you how to be a Real Man”.
Furthermore, the remaining singles from this release, “Ever Seen”, “Coming Home” and “Beaches”, have all left me in awe upon first hearing them live – and I am especially mesmerised every time I hear “Beaches”, either in its studio or live versions, for not only is the song incredibly personal to Bea, but its melancholic sound paired with a catchy chorus never fails to move me.
One year from its release, I still adore the way Bea experimented with her sound on this record, with songs like “A Cruel Affair” and “The Man Who Left Too Soon” in particular. More mellow in their sound, Bea’s voice continues to shine in both tracks. Production-wise, the bridge of “One Time” comes to mind, and I love the repetition of the line “Keep on faking just to make it / What’s the point of fixing problems?” over the steady drums from Bea’s drummer, Luca Caruso. For fans of Bea’s slower songs, “Tie My Shoes”, “Everything I Want”, and “Coming Home” are for you, and all three of them are most appropriate for different moods.
My personal favourites from this record, are the tracks “California”, which has rapidly become a staple concert-opener this tour, and is notably my favourite Bea song to date, along with “Real Man”, “Girl Song” – which I quoted in my undergraduate politics dissertation last year – “Post”, which is another setlist staple with its blaring guitars and chaotic bridge, and the raw and vulnerable closing track “This Is How It Went”.
Lyrically, I particularly love how “Take A Bite” discusses themes of risk-taking as a form of self-sabotage, and how “California” explores the feeling of being out of place while struggling to express it to others. The reason why “California” is arguably my favourite Beabadoobee song is primarily due to how relatable it is, especially with the concluding lines of the song, “Keeping it quiet till I hit back, and I know / They won’t listen till I start to crack / And I’ll pick up the pieces of what they left, and I know / They’ll never know”. The closing track, “This Is How It Went”, describes a messy breakup and how the other person won’t let Bea move on from the situation, viewing everything she does as a personal attack.
To me, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves” is the perfect embodiment of the classic Beabadoobee sound combined with some experimentation with new sounds following her second album, “Beatopia”, released in 2022. Bea and her band can execute the studio versions of the songs extremely well live, and I cannot wait for what’s next for Bea – knowing and trusting that I’ll love her next releases just as much as I loved her past three albums. As Bea has been my number one artist on Spotify since 2021, I believe I hold some credit in saying that.
Happy first birthday, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves”! Thank you for providing me with even more memories with Bea this era, and for giving me my favourite Beabadoobee song to date!
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