Artist Profile: bee
bee, the enormously talented and culturally transient dream pop artist, has been infatuated with music since her upbringing in a small town on the Canary Islands. Yet, during her time in London and now in Seoul, her sound and artistic confidence have blossomed, rendering each successive track she graces more dynamic and immersive than the last.
As a child, bee’s interest in music came about as a result of burned CDs and a Barbie cassette player (with an attached microphone). Her mother, who was born in Brazil, imbibed her with both South American and Spanish music; artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Marc Anthony, and La India graced the atmosphere of her childhood home.
Yet, as a teenager, bee’s interests became increasingly difficult to pursue in her hometown. While her mother would drive her to another village to take guitar lessons, she quickly found that she learned more at home experimenting with the instrument in her bedroom. Moreover, her unique style, which featured the typical apparel worn by members of the American emo scene in the early 2010s, served to isolate her from her small group of peers.
Yet, bee’s creative interests endured, and, throughout her adolescence, she gained musical talent and knowledge that had not yet been given the chance to bloom.
During a year she spent in London, bee wrote a spattering of songs on ukulele and uploaded one to Youtube. Surprisingly, one of the music producers she had met saw the video and asked her to come record it in a studio setting. This became her first song, “heartbreak”, a reverb-lathered, King Krule-inspired track that represents the earliest yearnings of her songwriting.
However, what “heartbreak”, and the songs she has released since, also represent is her deep and passionate love for music, crossing cultural and genre-based boundaries in pursuit of a dreamy and cinematic sound.
“Every time I meet someone and I ask them ‘What kind of music do you listen to?’, and they say, ‘Oh, I only listen to this specific genre’, I'll be like, ‘You should listen to more genres’. It's very good for your heart, for your brain as well. I don't know how to explain it, but listening to so many different genres, you can learn more from other people's cultures…That's how cultures and people connect, right? That's why I love music so much.”
From a strong beginning in “heartbreak”, bee’s next tracks signal a continued growth and sonic evolution that few artists can match. “blue summer”, a 2020 track, takes on a much more rhythm-driven front, incorporating somber melodies and tasteful layering to achieve a distinct bedroom-pop sound.
“last 24 hours” and “honey boi”, both released in 2022, signal a shift toward more electric, indie-inspired sounds, while maintaining the subdued vocals and ethereal atmosphere of her earlier tracks.
Yet, bee recognizes two tracks, “Battersea” and “영원”, as those which most closely match the sound she has sought out over the past few years.
“I've been very, very inspired by Boy Pablo since I started making music, so I wanted to make music that was sad but didn't sound that sad because it was not my intention to make sad music. It never was… [What best represents] the style I’ve been pursuing, you can hear that in ‘영원’ and ‘Battersea’. I think that's the closest that you can know we've gotten and the happiest I've been with a song. “
Since moving to Seoul, bee’s cultural tastes and musical prowess have continued to evolve exponentially. She has worked with various Korean artists, including multiple other female artists, and has begun exploring the nightlife scene, looking for opportunities to play her songs live with a band.
As bee continues to cross cultural lines with her tastes and collaborations, it is certain that this experimentation will continue to be evident in her musical output, and, as a dream-inducing, indie songstress, bee will be a name to watch in the coming years.
