beabadoobee | Tiny Desk Concert - JME Jacksonville Music Experience

Beatrice Laus, who performs as beabadoobee, possesses the sort of soft, lilting voice that often runs the risk of getting lost in her signature sound — a mix of grungy, ’90s rock and noisy dream pop. Mix Laus the wrong way in a live setting and you miss out on vocals that lend whatever song they’re paired with an undeniable sweetness and sincerity.

But in her Tiny Desk performance, beabadoobee drops her rock and roll tendencies to a low simmer, giving her voice ample room to shine in a collection of songs suited for our quiet little corner. She begins with “See You Soon” on her acoustic guitar, the first of a string of tracks from her latest album, Beatopia, backed by a trio of strings and her longtime guitarist and collaborator Jacob Bugden (who she at one point politely ribs for failing at a recent attempt at crowd surfing while on tour).

Photo: Bob Boilen

“Ripples” and “The Perfect Pair” follow, before she closes out with an unreleased song. “I could have played ‘Coffee,’ but I’m not,” she says, laughing, referring to her 2017 viral hit, a song that sounds so simple given how far her music has come. Instead she plays what she refers to as “Glue song,” a love song about a romance so strong it sticks its lovers together — you guessed it — like glue.

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