“Life’s a Beach” is easy life’s debut album, and it runs just 34 minutes across 12 tracks. It sets out to do something hard to pull off: pair sun-lit, festival-ready pop with lyrics about depression, self-doubt, and anxiety. Mostly, it succeeds.
From a Message to Myself to Living Strange
The album opens quietly with “a message to myself,” a two-minute mood-setter before “have a great day” pushes the tempo up. “ocean view” is one of the record’s clear highlights, warm and direct. “skeletons” follows and does the same trick even better, turning private doubt into something you can dance to.
“daydreams” keeps that streak going. It’s soft and hazy, and one of the best examples here of easy life folding real anxiety into a light melody.
The title track interlude, “life’s a beach,” is brief at 33 seconds, a pause rather than a destination. “living strange” picks the record back up, restless and searching, and stands among the album’s best cuts.
Compliments Through Music to Walk Home To
“compliments” and “lifeboat” sit back to back in the middle stretch. “lifeboat” is the sharper of the two, a track that leans into honest, personal writing without losing its pop instincts. “nightmares” follows and does something similar, darker in subject but still built for a festival crowd.
“homesickness” and closer “music to walk home to” round the album out. Neither reaches the heights of “skeletons” or “ocean view,” but both keep the record’s personal thread running clear through to the end, closing things on a quiet note rather than a big finish.
What Clash and the Other Review Said
Clash called it an excellent album that stays cheerful and lifted throughout, and praised how quickly it pulls listeners into the calm feeling of long summer days. The other outlet focused on the weight underneath, writing that the record’s lasting mark comes from how directly it faces depression and self-doubt, and that it makes listeners feel deeply.
Both are right.
The Numbers
- Total tracks: 12
- Running time: 34 minutes
- Metacritic score: 84/100
- Tracks critics singled out: Skeletons, Daydreams, Ocean View, Nightmares, Living Strange, Lifeboat
| Track | Length |
|---|---|
| a message to myself | 2:08 |
| have a great day | 3:22 |
| ocean view | 2:54 |
| skeletons | 2:58 |
| daydreams | 2:35 |
| life’s a beach (interlude) | 0:33 |
| living strange | 2:31 |
| compliments | 3:26 |
| lifeboat | 2:28 |
| nightmares | 3:27 |
| homesickness | 3:33 |
| music to walk home to | 4:20 |
“Life’s a Beach” earns its warmth by admitting the cold underneath it. It’s a debut that trusts pop hooks to carry real weight, and it mostly gets there.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
- a message to myself2:08
- have a great day3:22
- ocean view2:54
- skeletons2:58
- daydreams2:35
- life's a beach (interlude)0:33
- living strange2:31
- compliments3:26
- lifeboat2:28
- nightmares3:27
- homesickness3:33
- music to walk home to4:20
