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EXCLUSIVE: On Life Support, Madison Beer Goes Psychedelic Pop

We chat to the 22-year-old singer about her new album and the time she met Tame Impala at an airport.

While Madison Beer has built a name as one of mainstream pop’s rising stars, her debut EP Life Support plays with more experimental psychedelic sounds, and quite frankly, we absolutely love it. 

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WATCH BELOW: Maddison Beer’s Boys–t music video

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From the humming sounds and ’50s baseline in Blue to the epic post-breakup banger BOYS–T and its cinematic James Bond-esque vibes tied to lyrics about banning problematic boys from your life, Life Support is experimental with a capital E. Simply put, it’s the bomb dot com dot au.

In fact, speaking with Girlfriend, the 22-year-old says that working on this album, she really found herself and her identity as an artist.

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From the humming sounds and ’50s baseline in Blue to the epic post-breakup banger BOYS–T and its cinematic James Bond-esque vibes tied to lyrics about banning problematic boys from your life, Life Support is experimental with a capital E. Simply put, it’s the bomb dot com dot au.

In fact, speaking with Girlfriend, Madison says that working on this album, she really found herself and her identity as an artist.

“I’ve really found my own sound,” she tells us. “I feel like I’ve really tapped into myself over the last year or two.”

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“It’s been a process of finding myself and finding what feels right and what stories I want to tell what kind of music I want to make, who influences me and who I want to have bleed over into my music.”

“I think it’s like the first step in the right direction,” the New York-born beauty adds. “It’s the first project that I feel very connected to and that I feel like fully, this is me represented.”

“I feel very seen and very heard in this album. I think when you listen to it, it feels very authentic to me. And I’m very, very happy about that.”

An Aussie artist who’s bled into her new album’s DNA? The internet’s favourite indie psychedelic legend Tame Impala — aka Kevin Parker. 

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WATCH BELOW: Tame Impala – The Moment

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“I met him at an airport once,” she recalls. “It was really intense and crazy. I was just really awkward and like, not prepared at all. And I just blurted out random sentences and kind of froze, but I was super excited to meet him.”

Like many artists who’ve dropped a slaptastic album in the last year, Madison hasn’t had the chance to tour around the world or her home country and celebrate the release of her 17 new tracks. Instead, she’s taken things ✨digitally✨. 

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Earlier this month, the California-based singer presented her Life Support concert to her Australian and New Zealand fans from the other side of the world. It was a global virtual event unlike no other, and just a slice of a day on the plate for the artist and artists in general during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WATCH: Madison Beer’s Baby Music Video

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“I thought it was really fun,” she says. “Considering that’s all we could do right now, I was really grateful and lucky that I was able to put that show on.”

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“And my fans really loved it, which meant a lot to me. I would probably say that I miss performing live more than anything.”

“I miss my fans. I miss hearing them scream. I miss hugging them. But I really liked being on a stage again. It felt really, really good.”

Turning to the future, Madison says that after tackling psychedelic indie and industrial pop, she wants to go back to the ‘50s.

“I’m kind of dipping my toes into the 50s kind of sound,” she reveals. “Just like late 50s music in general, like Ricky Nelson, Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Anka, Lesley Gore.”

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