The Beaches tell us about ‘Jocelyn’ and ‘embracing flaws’ in their music

As The Beaches release their latest single ‘Jocelyn’, the Canadian band have told Rolling Stone UK about their continued rise – and why their latest song marks something of an evolution for the group.

Last year saw the group score a major breakout hit in ‘Blame Brett’, an lo-fi slice of anthemic guitar pop which saw singer Jordan Miller dissect the end of a recent relationship – and garner a whole legion of new fans in the process. That song, and their 2023 album Blame My Ex, saw them play a sell-out show at London’s Outernet last year, before following it with a date at the Kentish Town Forum last month.

Now, the group say that Brixton Academy is their next goal – and ‘Jocelyn’ shows they’re more than ready to take the next leap to that venue.

It’s a woozy, laid-back effort and Miller says it was directly inspired to how their world changed after ‘Blame Brett’ went viral.

“I was still in a sad, tender state and definitely partying a lot. People kept calling us role models and I felt like I wasn’t a role model at all, I didn’t wan’t that label! So it was a strange juxtaposition between experiencing such success in a professional setting and then personally not feeling quite confident about yourself. I wanted to write about that dynamic,” she explains.

“There’s that lyric in there that says ‘Everything I do you should probably do the opposite’ and then we wanted to have a real name in there, so Jocelyn came up.”

But when the group tried to anchor the song to real life, they discovered they had a fan following them on Instagram with that actual name too. “We found one who was in a sorority in Iowa and we took a lot of cues from her. She was getting her PhD, she was so smart and beautiful and she likes us! I hope she still follows us after this comes out.”

“It’s an interesting thing,” adds guitarist Kylie Miller – who also happens to be Jordan’s sister. “When you’re feeling so low, but people are looking up to you for the first time. It’s an odd thing to go through and we wanted to write a song about that experience, because even your idols can be flawed. But we like to connect with our fans on a personal level, we left the show last night and we made time to chat with them. It can feel disconnected, so it’s nice to meet these people who love you and find out what they’re going through too.”

The band say that theme will carry on throughout their next era of music too. “It’s all about embracing our flaws,” says Miller. “It’s our ‘Here Comes Trouble’ era and a lot of the songs are about accountability and realising oh, maybe I’m a messy bitch. Or when it comes to partying habits.”

“We want to be playful with it too in a way we’ve never done before,” adds guitarist Leandra Earl.

There’s a newfound sense for freedom to it all for Earl, too. The soaring ‘Edge of the Earth’ from the group’s last album is the first time that the group have addressed queer love after Leandra came out during the pandemic. “Our audiences are full of queer people and our fans got up on each other’s shoulders last night when we played that song,” Earl reflects.

“You’re not just speaking to straight fans, you can be speaking to more people and everyone feels seen and their experiences are shared. All the biggest pop stars are talking about their sexuality, like Chappell Roan, and that’s so important to us. I’ve heard 2024 is the year of the lesbian!”

Now, it’s full steam ahead for more music the group – and aiming for that coveted date at Brixton. “Or, we heard Oasis are on the road,” quips Jordan.

Whether a support slot with the reunited Gallagher brothers emerges is yet to be seen, but you certainly wouldn’t bet against a date at that storied South London venue. “This journey has been wild,” adds Jordan. “And it just makes us that much more excited for whatever the next thing is when we come back.”