Photos courtesy of Sarah Pardini/AboveGround/Dirty Hit/Interscope Records
After two years of waiting, on March 12, 2026, the return millions of listeners have been yearning and dreaming of has finally arrived. Indie pop and rock icon Beabadoobee makes a comeback with her latest single, All I Did Was Dream of You, featuring 2026 Best New Artist Grammy nominee, The Marías. With symbolically beautiful cinematics, introspective lyrics, and dreamy vocals, Beabadobee leaves fans feeling the raw and emotional mess of chasing a past love.
Beabadodee is a 25-year-old Filipina-British who first began making indie pop songs in her bedroom back in 2017, before releasing her first studio album, Fake It Flowers, in 2020. However, she is most notable for her song “the perfect pair,” in her 2022 second studio album, Beatopia, which alone has 1.1 billion streams. Now, she is a famous name not just within the indie pop and rock community, but recognized globally, commanding a total of 8.4 billion streams across all platforms and 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Her last album, This is How Tomorrow Moves, was released in 2024, so when her newest single was teased back in late-February, fans were no less than ecstatic. The song instantly rose to no. 40 on the US Spotify Charts and no. 162 on the Global Spotify Charts during its debut. Since then, it has garnered over 11 million streams on the platform and has yet to leave the US Spotify Top 100 Chart.
Thematically, this single marks a shift. While her hit album Beatopia centered on youthful heartbreak and childhood imagination as coping, this single portrays the maturity of navigating relationships as an adult — swapping imagination for alcohol. More specifically, this single focuses on the feeling between letting go or going back to one’s partner, notably in the chorus, “Stay, stay or just leave,” where the artist makes her partner choose for her. The Marias’ lead singer, María Zardoya, emphasizes the suffocating mental struggle and the desire to dream of the past — though those dreams are actually “nightmares” — in the second verse as she sings, “[It] Doesn’t feel like I can breathe (Stay with me for a while).” As a result, the song and its lyrics relate to a common struggle many people experience: the inability to let go and stagnant growth.
The instruments deepen this message further. When she was younger, Beabadobee’s past tracks were spread across acoustic and distinguishable ‘bouncy’ instrumentals with rock elements, especially in Beatopia. This single, however, leans into a much hazier sound with fuzzy, blended electric guitars in the background coming from The Marías. During the last chorus, as the song nears its end, the electric guitar truly takes the stage. It becomes nearly louder than the vocals in an almost shoegaze genre fashion, masterfully highlighting the foggy confusion portrayed in the chorus. Finally, at the end, the guitar fades away and the instrumentals become simple as the lyrics shift from choice to defeated begging: “Don’t go…” As such, the instrumentals are not only technically pleasant but complement the overall tone and message of the lyrics — full of alcoholic blur and confused desires — making the song a thematic and auditory gem.
Although this is a song review, it would just be wrong to not appreciate the insightful cinematography of the music video and how well the scenes mix together with the lyrics. The music video was directed by Jake Erland (regularly directed for Dior, Louis Vuitton, and artists like Olivia Dean) and ABOVEGROUND.
Scenes of spotlights, raw fish, and Beabadoobee being watched by those around her build an atmosphere of raw vulnerability, reflected in the lyrics. Throughout the music video, the lighting and overall setting is that of a blue, cold winter. With the scene of her in the empty bed, it forms a feeling of emptiness, contrasting lyrics like “high at sunrise” (the feeling of waking up with her partner).
Photos courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV91x2YT9zI. Dirty Hit/Interscope Records.
Meanwhile, moments with warm lighting, where she chases the warmth of alcohol or the flare — chases the past — are soon met with the brutal reality that her relationship is in flames. The warmth “like the summer breeze” is no longer the same for her.
Photos courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV91x2YT9zI. Dirty Hit/Interscope Records.
In the end, she is left cold and lost. The well-thought, symbolic cinematics and their technical execution truly amplify the emotional depth already portrayed in this song.
Photos courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV91x2YT9zI. Dirty Hit/Interscope Records.
For an indie pop artist, Beabadoobee stays true with high artistic expression over catchy phrases. However, she definitely touches more on her indie rock style in this song with the angsty, sultry vibes instrumentally and lyrically. Unlike her previous albums and singles, this one grows away from the ‘bouncy’ and upbeat aesthetics. It may seem risky, but Beabadobee does it well, as even drowning her vocals is intentional artistry. Lastly, like all her past songs, she brings uniqueness — a voice that I believe is unmistakably her own.
Overall, in the single All I Did Was Dream of You, Beabadoodee, The Marias, and her production team created a fluid, insightful interplay between lyrics, instrumentals, and visuals. Beabadoobee has always carried a unique tone and crafted in depth thematics within her songs; this one is no exception. For new or long-term fans of Beabadobee, enjoyers of The Marías, indie pop or rock listeners, and maybe those who get the feeling that they are stuck at times, you will surely love this 10/10 song.
