Album Review: No Hard Feelings by The Beaches

With their third album, No Hard Feelings, the quartet pick up where they left off, the set unfurling as a hard-pop masterclass, song after song carried by well-sculpted instrumentation and Miller's vocals, which are as sensual, muscular, and nuanced as ever. Certainly Blame My Ex and the band's debut, 2017's Late Show, offered memorable hooks, but with No Hard Feelings, the infectiousness is off the charts. Opener "Can I Call You in the Morning?" reorients us via catchy guitar licks to the band's new-wave affinities.

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At 11 tracks, No Hard Feelings is full of hits, offering a guided tour of queer heartbreak -- from ego-crushing humiliation ("Did I Say Too Much?") to compensatory self assuredness ("I Wore You Better"). Drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel provides a steady pulse, while Kylie Miller and Leandra Earl's groovy guitar tones swirl with nostalgic synths in ways reminiscent of '80s and '90s legends like the Cure, Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode, complementing Jordan Miller's bold and playful singing style. "Takes One to Know One," "Jocelyn" and "Did I Say Too Much?" are some of their most memorable tunes yet, leaving listeners freshly reminded of what got them into this band in the first place: raw emotion, witty snark and fun jams that make you want to sing along.

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It’s hard to come up with something more fabulous and hilarious after going viral with a TikTok hit about blaming your ex. However, The Beaches have found a pretty sophisticated way to do so by continuing to develop that narrative in Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ and Miley Cyrus’ 'Flowers' way--through partying, girl power, self-love, and… even more breakups! According to The Beaches’ frontperson and bassist Jordan Miller, their debut record, ‘Late Show’, released back in 2017, was “a collection of the band’s experiences growing up in Toronto"--from the times when they were playing at local bars under the moniker Done with Dolls. The sophomore record, with the hilariously spot-on name ‘Blame My Ex‘, became a peak of the breakup genre, dissected with irony and cheer--to put it in J.

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