With their third album, No Hard Feelings, the Canadian foursome explores queer heartbreak, late-night partying, and romantic chaos through punchy indie guitar rock, cheeky lyricism, and a heavy dose of vulnerability.
Canadian alt-rock quartet The Beaches made a name for themselves with their massive hit “Blame Brett” in 2023. Teeming with glittery guitars, bouncy percussion, and cheeky lyricism, the song found both viral and chart success while chronicling lead vocalist and guitarist Jordan Miller’s chaotic romantic relationships with emotionally unavailable men.
With the band’s third album, however, they’ve expanded their perspective. Miller’s sister Kylie (guitar, backing vocals), Leandra Earl (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), and Eliza Enman-McDaniel (drums) all contribute their own personal takes on coming-of-age experiences, interpersonal chaos, and—of course—romantic highs and lows.
In the vulnerable synth ballad “Lesbian of the Year”, Earl opens up about the shame she felt coming out later in life. With “Takes One to Know One”, the band makes the downside of love sound like a fairytale, as Miller chants, “God, you’re a piece of work / Takes one to know one!” “Dirty Laundry” leans into the band’s indie sleaze sensibilities, as both Kylie and Enman-McDaniel reflect on their breakups over shimmering guitars.
Then there’s “Jocelyn”, a song about the kind of wonderwoman you feel you can never live up to, but constantly compare yourself to anyway. But it’s not just inner tumult, the album also finds its resolutions: “Fine Let’s Get Married” gives into the messy ups and downs of a relationship you just can’t quit, while closer “Last Girls at the Party” amplifies the feelings of dancing your sins away into the early hours of the morning. No Hard Feelings is like a blurry, bulb-lit Polaroid you stumble upon in a box ten years later—nostalgic, revealing, and powerful enough to transport you back to a moment you didn’t know was one of the best times of your life.
Kylie Miller talks to BUST about love, queer heartbreak, late nights, and dealing with relationships with no hard feelings.
BUST: How are you feeling about people getting to finally listen to No Hard Feelings?
Kylie Miller: I feel great having gotten to sit with the album. I can’t wait for these songs to come out. I think it’s such a nice continuation of our last album [Blame My Ex]. It explores deeper topics, and the thing I really like about this record is that it’s not coming from just one perspective like Jordan’s. It’s coming from multiple people in the band and it feels like a nice way to tell our stories of what we’ve been going through individually. Obviously, there’s always a level of anxiety with releasing something new. There’s been a lot of pressure because it’s a follow-up to our last record, which did really well. But I think we’ve written something special, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.
BUST: Let’s talk about that shift from Jordan’s point of view to everyone’s. Was that a conversation? Did it happen organically?
Kylie: After we put out Blame My Ex, Leandra and I both went through pretty intense breakups. That kickstarted the whole thing. There was a lot of material to be written about based on that alone. And then Jordan fell in love again. So for her, she was like, “Okay, I don’t have a lot to pull from because I’m really happy right now.” She found it useful to draw from her own breakup experiences and Leandra’s. Leandra went through a bit of a crazy time the past two years. We also wanted to showcase that a lot of our fans are queer women. We have a few songs on Blame My Ex about that, but we wanted to feature a little bit more of that story because when that’s a big part of your fanbase, you want to be able to share those experiences with them. We’re sure they’ve gone through a lot of similar experiences with queer heartbreak, which Leandra experienced. It was therapeutic for her to do and share with the world and I hope people can take something positive out of the heartbreak.
BUST: Was there any reluctance for the band, and maybe Leandra in particular, to write about something so personal and vulnerable as coming out and queer relationships? How has the reaction and experience been?
Kylie: It’s been a really incredible experience. It’s been really well perceived, which is amazing. These songs, a lot of them are about queer heartbreak, but anyone can relate to them. The greatest takeaway is when straight people, straight men, are singing songs like “Did I Say Too Much?” which is about a lesbian breakup. The songs just stand so well on their own. Anybody can relate to them and the subject matter doesn’t matter. If you can relate to or like the song, that’s what matters at the end of the day. So far, it’s been an amazing response to the new material and new perspectives. Obviously, it’s an incredibly vulnerable thing to do, to sing about any kind of breakup, but then adding the queer element makes it even more vulnerable. I think that’s a theme that needs to be discussed and is an identity of two of the people in the band so it’s a good time to showcase that side and be extra vulnerable … So why not?
BUST: I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you at Coachella and Governors Ball this year, and I know you’ve also been doing DJ sets. You’re embracing “Last Girl at the Party” energy. How have those late-night sets been?
Kylie: It’s been so much fun. Right after Coachella, I went through this terrible breakup. Then I had to go on this DJ tour, but it actually was the most therapeutic thing I have ever done. It was intense partying but was so fun to be in a crowded room full of mostly girls, where everyone was having the best time, living in the moment, just so excited to be there. It was a great way for us to connect with the fans that we haven’t been able to before. I’m the worst DJ out of the girls and my skills haven’t really improved, but I’ve been really good at partying. But bad at DJing. That’s what I keep saying. We have one more DJ set before OSHEAGA. Hopefully I remember everything that I’ve learned. I hope I don’t pause or break the computer like I have been doing. It was a really fun way to get to travel and do shows in a different way. We’ve never done something like it before, but now that we have, I don’t think we’re ever going to stop.
BUST: I’m with you. I’m a very bad DJ too. People think if you have good taste in music, you’ll be able to DJ. It’s not true.
Kylie: No. You have to be good at computer stuff and I am not. That’s my biggest struggle. My playlist rips but I sync the songs at the wrong tempo and the technical side of it is not my strong suit. I’ve definitely improved, but my respect for DJs is so high now. I had no idea how hard it is but now that I do I’m like “Okay, this is serious work.”
BUST: I once did a DJ set and played “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend three times in a row because there was a technical difficulty and the next DJ didn’t start. But it kind of went off, so.
Kylie: That sounds sick. I would love that.
BUST: Speaking of “A-Punk” and DJing but also the band’s sonic inspirations … I think this album does a great job of reflecting a nostalgic post-punk sound that simultaneously feels very fresh. Were you guys doing that intentionally? What were you listening to? What sonically seeped into No Hard Feelings?
Kylie: Sonically, we really liked the direction that we went in with Blame My Ex, which was the post-punk sound and some eighties new wave in there, but some gothy songs too. We listened to a lot of The Cure and Happy Mondays. But we like to balance that with a lot of melodic pop vocal melodies. Lot’s of the girls, like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s about finding that mix between the pop world and the dark ‘80s, ‘90s rock world to find a balance. The Cure is probably our number one inspiration for this record, I would say.
BUST: Now that you’ve been able to perform the album live, which songs were you surprised that people are having the most fun with? Or which songs were sleeper hits for you that you weren’t expecting to go off?
Kylie: People really like “Touch Myself.” We’ve only done it a handful of times, but when we play it you can see the energy shift. People are dancing and jumping, they’re really going off. We’re just actually starting to play the new ones that haven’t been released at these summer festivals. We played “Fine, Let’s Get Married” in Newfoundland when we opened for The Killers. That was super exciting because it’s always scary playing a new song that’s unreleased, since people want to hear the hits. I don’t blame them. But they loved it, and that was really cool to see.
BUST: I’m such a fan of The Killers, I feel like you all have similar energy. When people get the chance to listen to No Hard Feelings in full, what do you hope people take from the album? What are the feelings or messages you’re hoping they walk away with?
Kylie: That’s a great question. Obviously, I hope they like the record. I hope there’s a song that they can relate to. There’s a mix of party girl energy but also dealing with a shame spiral that you deal with in a breakup. It’s the ups and downs.
Like the track “Jocelyn?”
Kylie: Yes! Totally. I hope there’s something that they can pull from where, if they’ve had a bad experience with a breakup, they can maybe have a therapeutic release from listening. If they’re pissed off at their ex and they hate them, they can listen to the first song, “Can I Call You In the Morning?” There’s a song for everyone and every experience, especially if you’re young and going through heartbreak. Even if you’re young and single and feeling like you don’t know what you want to do with yourself. If there’s any takeaway, it’s just that maybe you can help someone going through a tough time.
BUST: Before we go, I’d love to know, because this album is a vulnerable breakup album, but one that leaves you wanting to party, having gone through a breakup recently, what is your advice for BUST readers on feeling like themselves again?
Kylie: Lean on your friends as much as you can. Go out and party. Also take time to be by yourself and with your feelings. And honestly, go into your hot slut era. That’s what I’ve been doing and it’s been working out for me. But have fun, sleep with a bunch of people. That tends to cushion some of the blow. Or don’t do that! And go out with your friends! But it’s fun to do that after a breakup, get a bit chaotic. You only live once and at the end of the day, you’re going to get through it. Even as hard as that might seem in the moment. If you have good people around you, you’ll be okay.
All Images Courtesy Of: Megan Moore
