The Beaches tell us about third album ‘No Hard Feelings’: “We wanted to showcase all the voices in the band”

As The Beaches gear up to release their third album, the Canadian band have told Rolling Stone UK about how the record offers a reflection of the entire group and a subtle switch-up of their sound.

The group will release No Hard Feelings on August 29, which has already been previewed with tracks such as the euphoric ‘Jocelyn’ and the guitar-driven ‘Takes One To Know One’.

Their breakout 2023 hit ‘Blame Brett’ and second album Blame My Ex saw singer Jordan Miller dissect the end of a recent relationship, which meant she was keen to broaden the discussions on their third effort.

“What’s interesting is that I really wanted this record to be less about heartbreak and my experiences with that,” said Miller.

“We wanted this record to showcase all the other voices in the band and I really wanted it to feel like a debrief session with your girlfriends where we’re *all* talking about like a a shitty boy drama. I think in doing so that it really showcases each of our personalities more but it also showcases the relationship we have with each other. There’s the theme of us being in therapy now too. On ‘Blame Brett’ I said I wasn’t ready to take accountability and I think with this record I’m accepting that I’m at least part of the problem.”

It’s an album that feels more packed with festival-primed anthems too, even if it’s only the must subtle of flip-ups.

“We didn’t really want to diverge too much from what we did with the last album because with that record it felt like we’d found the sound we’d been looking for across 15 years as a band,” said Miller.

“But sound wise on this album it’s a little bit more honed and creative.”

There’s also a subtle thread of inspiration from Sabrina Carpenter, the band say, after taking inspiration from the humour and nudge-wink spirit of Carpenter’s songs.

“She’s really candid and funny,” says the band.

Kylie Miller adds: ” There’s a sense of humour that you can hear in her music too. It’s almost like you can hear her raising her eyebrows when you listen to her. We were very influenced by that.”

There’s moments of heartfelt beauty too. ‘Lesbian Of The Year’ sees guitarist Leandra Earl reflect on her own coming out and regrets about not doing it sooner, while ‘Last Ones At The Party’ feels like an ode to their own friendship.

“It’s about being a chaotic party person embracing being a chaotic party person,” said Kylie. It’s about being the ones who are kicked out, you know, those girls, but also we know that the party doesn’t start until we arrive…”

No doubt they’ll continue that mentality when they next arrive on these shores. Until then, fans can be assured that No Hard Feelings will more than tide them over…