BEA1991 haunts listeners on introspective cut “Tranquility”

BEA1991‘s new single, “Tranquility // Free Young Man,” is out now.

BEA1991 has unveiled a Sega Bodega-produced two-parter this Wednesday. “Tranquility / Free Young Man” marks her first release since her 2019’s Lost Demo EP and excellent debut album Brand New Adult.

This new offering starts with BEA1991‘s harrowed yet determined voice alongside a synth palette shrouded in melancholic mystery, a combination that excellently evokes the complex, uncertain aura carried by the song’s subject who’s recently wrested themselves from a relationship. Contemplative hums and disembodied keys interject throughout the steady yet pulsating main synth line before tension is briefly relieved as the song transitions to its second, lengthier movement. A similarly possessed keyboard propels the listener forward, now supported by sparse drum machine whose rimshots contrarily add further to the sonic haze. The chorus breaks and tenderly blooms into a very danceable yet restrained outburst smattered with more varied drum programming and an anchoring bassline that carries the song through to its outro. The suppressed wails accompanying the artist’s continued steady tone here may well be the most expressive vocal element of the two-parter – lest one forget that no amount of individualist determination can allow full detachment from one’s emotions while plotting a course into the lone unknown.

Jimmy Gutierrez