When beabadoobee hit the road as one of the opening acts on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, she figured she would get over her initial stage fright.
"I remember someone telling me, 'By the second show, all the nerves will go away,'" she tells Exclaim! "By the end of the tour, I felt like I was about to shit myself every second on stage. The feeling never went away. I was terrified the entire time."
She continues, "I had so much fun, but, on top of playing to that many people, you're playing to a crowd that you're trying to win over or who don't know who you are and all just waiting for Taylor Swift. It's a lot of pressure."
These performances marked yet another milestone in Filipino-British songwriter Beatrice Kristi Laus's rapid ascent — a rise that began with the first song she ever wrote, 2017's "Coffee," which she created in her bedroom with a second-hand guitar her dad bought her.
A lot has changed since that track blew up on TikTok in 2020 thanks to a remix from Canadian rapper Powfu. However, despite her success, the songwriter wants to maintain her intimate DIY aesthetic, even as her budget gets bigger.
"With my music, I think it's inevitable that it'll always sound like it's been made in my bedroom, because all the songs I wrote from start to finish are written on the couch, at my friend's house and in my own world," beabadoobee tells Exclaim!
Even though her songwriting process has remained more or less the same, her third album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves (out August 9), marks a huge creative shift, as she enlisted the help of legendary producer Rick Rubin.
"I didn't think this would ever be an opportunity that would come to the table for me," she reflects. "It was terrifying, but also the coolest thing ever. Bear in mind, I've never worked with a complete stranger before."
She continues, "As much as the conversations with Rick were so comfortable and lovely, it was still stepping into new ground. I'm used to making music in my mate's house, so going from that to recording an entire album in Shangri-La Studios for a month and a half was a very bizarre experience."
Even though her surroundings were unfamiliar, her music remains an insular world — something that began with "Coffee" and continues on This Is How Tomorrow Moves, as beabadoobee sings about domestic bliss on the folk pop waltz ''Coming Home." It's a perspective she says was subliminally influenced by her love of the Beatles.
The Fab Four, she says, "thread their way into the music I write subconsciously, because I've listened to them so much since I was a kid that they're just a part of the influence. It's never direct — it just happens. I love them so much, and they're a big influence on this record."
Her inward-looking music, rooted in personal experience, has earned her a dedicated fan base of listeners who connect deeply with her songs. "It's comforting to know that people relate to the songs that I write, and, if they have been through the exact same situation as me, then I feel less alone in that," she says.
The artist admits that having a big following can be "overwhelming" at times, but finds comfort in knowing that many fans have been with her since the beginning.
"A lot of them have grown up with me. I have been making music since I was in school, and a lot of people found me then and have stuck around," says beabadoobee, who began releasing songs in her late teens and is now 24. "It feels like there's not much separation between us, because we are all so similar. In an alternative universe, we'd all be friends, but I can't have three million friends."