American singer and songwriter Madison Beer got her break aged just thirteen when Justin Bieber tweeted a link to Beer’s YouTube cover of Etta James’s At Last, then signed her to Island Records. Her first single Melodies was then released in 2013 (the video featured a cameo from Bieber himself), and Beer began work on her debut album, reported at the time to have pop and R&B influences.

Fast forward to 2021, and Beer’s debut album Life Support has finally landed. Only, it’s not the record she worked on as a young teenager. It is, instead, an unflinchingly emotive, honest, and at times brutal account of the last eight years of her life, including her struggles with mental health problems and self harm, and her eventual diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. It also addresses the experience of some of the immense difficulties of living life in the spotlight.

It’s easy to imagine writing and recording Life Support was a form of catharsis for Beer. The record brims with a feel of emotional honesty, and reveals Beer’s ability as a lyricist. On the orchestral Default she sings painfully: “I swear, I swear, I will be the end of me, the еnd of me”, while on Stay Numb And Carry On she reveals “I've become emotionless / My heart can't help but wonder where the feeling is.”

Sonically, the album moves between slick pop, such as Blue which shimmers with glorious synths, darker, heavier moments such as on Sour Times, and the fragility of songs such as Stained Glass, an incredibly evocative and twisting affair that makes a strong case for the best song here, and which feels like it might break under the weight of Beer’s lyrics (“My skin is made of glass / But apparently it's stained / 'Cause you notice all the cracks / But can't look inside my pain”).

It’s unlikely you’ve not heard much of Beer over the last eight years, so often has been a subject of showbiz press interest. But if Life Support is your first exposure to her music since those early Bieber-sponsored tracks, you’ll be amazed at the artist and performer Beer has grown into.

Life Support tracklist:

1. The Beginning
2. Good In Goodbye
3. Default
4. Follow The White Rabbit
5. Effortlessly
6. Stay Numb And Carry On 
7. Blue
8. Interlude
9. Homesick
10. Selfish
11. Sour Times
12. BOYSHIT
13. Baby
14. Stained Glass
15. Emotional Bruises
16. Everything Happens For A Reason
17. Channel Surfing / The End

Watch the official video for BOYSHIT here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.