beccs

Music | August 24, 2016
Get a “Therapy” Session In With Beccs’ New Music Video
Trust us, you need it
by Jennie Neufeld

Hailing from Boston and a past filled with struggle, GRLCVLT member beccs is one of our new favorite cool girls. Her one-of-a-kind voice has been heard across the world, from Madrid to Cannes and all the way back to Brooklyn, New York. In her newest video, “Therapy,” “destructive beccs” meets “healer beccs” in a stellar visualization of battling one’s inner demons. In this case, beccs battles “the depth” of her eating disorder.

“There was something my body needed to say—music allowed me to go there,” she tells us.

The release of this video comes after six positive years of healing for beccs, who says, “It feels surreal to be in a much stronger place in my recovery finally sharing it.”

Aside from the messages of self-help that beccs has been putting out there to inspire fans, the video itself also displays some awesome girl power moments with a fully female crew and cast of dancers giving some seriously sapphic vibes.

Beccs’ debut album, Unfound Beauty, will be released on September 21. - NYLON Magazine

Debut
BECCS, UNFOUND BEAUTY
{ Emotional, open, and enchanted. }
MEREDITH SCHNEIDER | SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
photo credit: Jena Cumbo

Brooklyn’s alternative soul musician beccs has been working on her debut EP for us. After the music video for her single “Therapy” wound up on the front page of NYLON, all eyes have been on her. Well, we’ve got to admit that the Unfound Beauty EP absolutely does not disappoint, thanks in part to producer Richard Barone. The 5-track piece is a culmination of her work as a songwriter since she switched from classical cello to piano at age 16. Here’s your exclusive listen to Unfound Beauty.


Perhaps it’s best to categorize the EP as a self-love anthem. “Therapy” starts out like a 90’s piano ballad, and then when beccs’ voice sets in, it reaches a whole different sound. Lyrics like “I’m not single, I’m in an abusive relationship / her name is me” and “patience does nothing for me” make you realize that beccs has reached a level of self-actualization that it takes many an entire lifetime to do. It’s no different for “Scared Of Me”, where she admits that she might be scared of her own self. Seemingly personal anecdotes like “It’s 12 a.m. on a Friday and I’m crying, I’m crying, I’m crying on the keys” make her relatable, while her shifts between first and third person are hardly noticeable, for her positive message is being conveyed so strongly. “Waiting” is another gorgeous song, slow to start and perhaps a test of her aforementioned patience as it’s bit more controlled in its steady roll out. Once again, we feel that self-love twinge when she admits to having “lonely, foolish fears”.

Not until “It’s For You” do we see beccs discussing the idea of love that is traditionally addressed in music. Puppy love? Perhaps. But she expresses it in such an exquisite and theatrical way that you’d think she had been through the rigmarole of love for many years. As you might expect with a title like “Unfound Beauty”, she throws a curveball for her closing track. It begins in Spanish, and then its jazzy, slow sound swirls around you. It leaves you feeling emotional, open, and enchanted.

It’s important to note that if you are to embark on a journey with this EP, you’re going to be reflecting on your own emotions and thoughts of the world around you. Be ready to confront your own feelings, and be prepared to wrap yourself in the self-love blanket we all need every once in a while.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Therapy… “But I’m not single, I’m in an abusive relationship. Her name is me”
2. Scared Of Me… “Well damn I’m scared of me too”
3. Waiting… “Hide from light and you. I hide from you”
4. It’s For You*… “I give my heart and no one knows”
5. Unfound Beauty**… “My unfound beauty could be found”

Unfound Beauty is available on CD and all digital platforms today, and its release will be celebrated at The Mercury Lounge in NYC on September 25th. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and keep up with her on her site. - IMPOSE Magazine

An Interview with beccs
Beccs is a talented singer and artist from Brooklyn that I’ve had the privilege of interviewing for this article. What one is struck by is not just her talent but her raw genuine ability to cut through the proverbial nonsense in a question and get right down to the nitty gritty meaning. Her music cuts through the nonsense in the world as well which is why I wanted to interview her. It’s rare to find talent but it’s doubly rare to find talent with a voice in this public relations frenzied world. Beccs is that rare gem with a voice.

Beccs Unfound Beauty EP is out today and was produced by Richard Barone. You can find the EP at Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, CDBaby.



The Interview:
What was the inspiration for Unfound Beauty?

Unfound Beauty came about pretty organically over the course of seven years. Each song has a different story. I wrote “Therapy” in residential treatment for my eating disorder at the hospital’s piano. On a night when my urges to self-destruct were high, I ended up writing “Scared Of Me” for a friend struggling with trauma from sexual assault. The song became a tribute to the many women who are inherent soliders. I wrote “Waiting” when I was sixteen. The song sort of romanticizes what it would be like to live without fear and shame, without hiding. I guess you could say it’s inspired by a hunger for life; a very sad, restricted hunger that at the time could only take shape through song. “It’s For You” is a McCartney/Lennon gem written for Cilla Black who worked in the cloakroom at the Cavern Club which The Beatles used to frequent. The song is an embittered take on love. It’s a waltz with switching rhythms and an angry undertone. It’s very unusual, and I love it for that. Honestly, it feels like an elegant “fuck you” as a woman singing about love. And for that it felt related to my journey; the chapter on my infatuations, which leads right into my final gem. “Unfound Beauty” is no love song. It came about one night in Spain when I was writing with my friend Hernan Olalla. The song is inspired by feeling used and unseen. It’s inspired by mistaking male attention for love; relying on the male gaze for self-worth. The chorus is a yearning to be seen and found. The last lyric originally was “could be found by you”. I had to change it to “could be found” because there’s no “you” in this situation. I give no one credit but myself.

When you’re singing and writing lyrics do you do it to relieve some type of feeling or angst? What type of feeling and why?

Any feeling. Any feeling at all. I’m a big person. I feel big things. I write songs for the same reason I spontaneosuly start dancing on the street. I need to feel connected to my body and what it is saying. Or else I conform, I feel confined, I lose myself, I disappear.

What does social justice mean to you?

To me, social justice means refusing to be blind to systems of oppression and refusing to let sleeping dogs lie. As someone who grew up in a very privileged home, it’s easy it is to remain immune to other peoples’ suffering. I think that is one of the biggest crimes against social justice; comfort. To fight for one’s own liberation is one thing but to recognize how these systems of oppressions intersect and act on that is where it’s at.

Do you feel it’s more important to be relevant or to be socially conscious? More specifically, is the message the medium or is the medium the message?

I think a lot about this. I never planned to have “Unfound Beauty” be so tied to my recovery from an eating disorder. I wrote these songs for my own healing. But whenever I chose writing at the piano over purging in the bathroom let’s say, there was this gut feeling that helping myself wouldn’t just help me. I was always passionate about a collective recovery or healing, but I knew it had to start right here. Using my voice happens to be the medium I love, but the act of taking up space with my voice also happens to be essential to my particular message both as a woman struggling with bulimia and as a woman.

Who are your musical influences?

Laura Nyro, K.D. Lang, The Beatles, Tori Amos, Nina Simone, Yes, Fiona Apple, Suzanne Vega, Sia, Anohni, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Aimee Mann, Emily King, Sondheim, Rhye, Supertramp, Regina Spektor, Paula Cole, Sylvan Esso, I know I’m forgetting a bunch.

Now, if you’re willing, what is that you want to say to the world? If in ten years you are where you want to be, what will you say to the world?

I have a new song that pretty much encompasses what I’m trying to say. It’s called “Daughters”. It’s not a simple answer—you should probably just come to a show. Hopefully, what I want to say now won’t need to be said in ten years. I’m not sure how my message will morph over time. It’s influenced by my personal struggles and discoveries. But as a product of society, yes it is political. Right now, I feel very held by women and disappointed with how I’ve treated myself, rather how I’ve been taught to treat myself. And I have a lot of anger and even aggression because of that. But I’m a girl and wasn’t quite taught how to use my fists to fight, so instead I’d beat myself up.

Well, I’m done doing that.

I have a voice now. I’m good to my home now. Maybe not good, but better to it.

“Loving ourselves, not for being good to this home, but for being better to it.”

I suspect my message will evolve with time, but I also suspect that people will still need to hear the message I sing today. Fortunately for you, I won’t quit until it’s heard.

Follow beccs on FB, Twitter, or Instagram. - Huffington Post

Beccs celebrates release of 'Unfound Beauty' at Mercury on 09.25

NYC based singer songwriter Beccs may hail from Boston, but she sure strikes a very Manhattan chord with her first official video for single 'Therapy" (streaming below). Dripping with orchestral and even operaic character, this is a soulful song about the damage created by the duplicity of human impulses, written after a long period of healing, which - unsurprisingly - ended up bringing Beccs a period of intense artistic inspiration. 'Therapy' will be featured in the artist's upcoming album Unfound Beauty (out on September 21st), whose release will be celebrated at the Mercury Lounge on September 25th.. - The Deli Magazine