- Iconic instrument on stage.
- Missing headphones mystery.
- Self-acceptance, musical journey.
The pop icon performs on stage while wielding a custom-made hot pink Fender Stratocaster, as is common knowledge.
“It is strictly prohibited in my residence,” the 26-year-old acknowledges. “I am extremely prone to forgetfulness; it would be disastrous if I showed up to a gig without it.” Therefore, it is secured in Wembley.”
Not only does it involve the instrument.
Her tour manager has seized her in-ear headphones because she discovered them “smashed to smithereens” the morning after her last performance, which is why they were impounded.
“I thought, ‘How in the hell did that occur?'” And it wasn’t until a few years later that my American friend informed me that I had consumed them while on FaceTime with her.
“In fact, I devoured them like a toffee.” Again, I am not permitted to retain those items as well.”
Baby Queen’s music devotees are presumably not surprised.
She infuses her bubblegum pop with candid anecdotes of coming of age, coming out, and going astray, all coated in grunge.
My heart can’t break because my medication confiscated sex” were the wry lyrics of the early anthem Medicine, external, which lamented the performer’s propensity to ruin parties by getting inebriated and bursting into tears.
The Journey to Self-Acceptance
The singer’s actual name, Bella Latham, amassed an underground following and a fan club of like-minded musicians as a result of those songs.
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Courtney Love characterised her as “a self-assured woman who never performed a bad song,” and Olivia Rodrigo accompanied her throughout Europe on her Sour tour as a support act.
Musical Evolution and Impact
Latham informed us in 2021 that her debut album was due “by the end of the year” at the time of our last conversation. However, it is already 2023, and it has only recently arrived. What then transpired?
She acknowledges, “I composed a scuzzy ’90s rock album that will never see the light of day.”
“That was one reason, then.” However, in the end, it simply required an exceptionally lengthy period of time to amass a sufficient selection of exceptional music.
The deferral resulted in Latham gaining a new audience in 2022 when her song featured prominently in the Netflix film Heartstopper.
The series follows the developing romantic relationship between high school pupils Charlie (portrayed by Joe Locke) and Nick (portrayed by Kit Connor), with Baby Queen serving as the underlying musical score for their courtship. It is based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman.
Latham was unaware of it until the conclusion of the first season; however, Oseman had been composing the narratives while spinning her debut EP, and “it became interwoven with the story she was telling.”
At the time of the series’ debut, the sales of Dover Beach and Want Me increased by as much as 500 percent. Latham subsequently composed two songs for the series and debuted as an actress at the conclusion of the second season.
She exclaims, “My first IMDb entry was for ‘prom singer!'”
The series had a profound effect on the singer, who was raised in the traditional South African city of Durban, “where no one drank and no one had sex before the age of eighteen,” in addition to its impact on her public image.
Early on, Latham experienced attraction to both men and women, but she frequently hid her feelings.
She states, “I really could have used a show like Heartstopper.”
“I never romanticized queerness during my youth.” It was an urge, a desire, which was not romantic in nature. One might assume, “No one could ever learn about this.” It will be carried to my tomb.’
“Moreover, what makes Heartstopper so lovely is that it’s a straightforward, joyful, ordinary story.
“Neither the ‘queer best friend’ nor the ‘tough lesbian rock woman’ really matter. “The show’s purpose is to symbolize those who have for so long felt invisible.”
From Durban to the World
Latham, then eighteen years old, departed the stifling culture of Durban by flying with a suitcase filled with demo CDs to London.
Dejected by all record labels, she fabricated the persona Baby Queen as a satirical and defiant best friend who possessed precisely the self-assurance that Latham himself lacked.
She was able to compose more confrontational lyrics through the use of the character, which critiqued Instagram culture and Internet religion from the outside (example line: “I’ve finished saving the world, so take a look at these cool shoes!”) as well as recording her detrimental lifestyle choices while taking These Drugs.
Latham remains directionless on her debut album, Quarter Life Crisis, but she is more forgiving of herself.
“We Can Be Anything,” the album’s initial track, is a luminous repudiation of the nihilism that marked her earlier compositions. In addition, she composes a heartfelt letter to her seventeen-year-old self at the conclusion of the track, advising her to cease her anxiety.
“You’ll reach a point where individuals don’t care that you kiss women.”
This realization is crucial.
Latham experienced “heart palpitations” regarding her public debut the first time she wrote about same-sex attraction, on the single “Dream Girl.” But she had nothing to worry about.
“I am so proud of you, Bella,” one fan commented beneath the YouTube video. Another added, “I knew Baby Queen wouldn’t let us down during Pride Month.”
Her family disapproved as well.
Latham states, “My mother first heard ‘Dream Girl’ about a year and a half ago, and it’s her favourite track on the album.”
“We have discussed and resolved a great deal concerning my sexual orientation. She now understands how difficult it has been for me, a subject I had never before discussed with her, and we are simply in an entirely different position…
“However, I continue to believe she prefers it when I’m having a partner!”
While the singer explores uncharted territory with self-acceptance, “Quarter Life Crisis” also revisits recurring themes of unrealized potential and halted growth.
“I still make two rabbit ears while tying my laces,” she sings on track 23.
“I Can’t Get My S*** Together” is a notable composition that features a dynamic pop anthem in which Latham’s angels and demons converse ingeniously.
“I’ve completely lost my mind; everything is wrong with me.” (Attempt to read it both with and without the italicized text.)
“I’m delighted that you chose that song!” she exclaims with a delightful smile. “Both the call and response and the creation of the aural contrast between the two sections were incredibly challenging to compose.
“However, despite the fact that we ended up with a whiteboard covered in complex mathematical equations, I absolutely adore that song.”
One aspect of the dilemma was that Baby Queen found it difficult to meet her own expectations after developing her own distinct worldview.
“There are times when I feel as though I’ve cornered myself in,” she acknowledges.
“The fixation on lyrics has become more pronounced.” At times, I find myself stationary, desiring to slam my head against the wall in an attempt to formulate the appropriate words.
“However, now that I’ve finished making my bed, I must speak with an air of brilliance!”
“Quarter Life Crisis” contains some of the most astute pop lyrics you will encounter in 2023, although she is teasing.
Even more positively, she has abandoned her cynicism and opened her emotions.
Even more so, Latham addresses her decision to depart from South Africa and the significant person she lost “before I said goodbye” in “Obvious.”
“Late at night, I have this terrible feeling that she clung to her life for one more day in anticipation of my return,” she sings with a voice laden with culpability.
Latham returned home after completing the album for the first time in five years; however, the voyage evoked conflicting emotions.
“You may reject your origins, but there’s something about the air and vegetation that you cannot deny once your feet touch the asphalt,” she explains.
“However, that journey ultimately solidified the notion that nothing was there for me; and despite the pain caused by everything, my family remains by my side.”
“Therefore, I did not lose as much as I had anticipated.”
Her song is on Durban radio, an accomplishment she never imagined as a child. Yet, Latham maintains that further effort is required.
“Quarter Life Crisis” is neither my ideal album nor my best album,” she declares without the restraint that is her trademark.
“Upon completion, the only emotion I experienced was, ‘Allow me to simply create my next one.'” “I am now aware of what to do.”
Admirers in the vicinity of Baby Queen’s court are already agog.
