No one picks up on the other end, but the phone keeps ringing. In "Satellite," Beabadoobee sings, "Stolen moments on the telephone / Hold my breath until the dial tone" — a single line that sets the tone for the entire song's emotion. It's an unanswered voicemail, and it's also the closing statement of the album "Pylon."
The track features Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, who handles backing vocals on the verses. The song's opening maintains Beabadoobee's signature delicate vocal style, until the chorus suddenly explodes into heavy, distorted alt-rock sound: "I'm looking up, under the stars / I'm split in two, sing to the moon / Orbiting you / Like a satellite." This dramatic shift from light to heavy is the song's most immediate sonic highlight.
"Satellite" is the final track on Beabadoobee's (real name Beatrice Laus) fourth album "Pylon," which was released on Friday, September 18. In a four-star review, NME noted that Laus "cements that feeling of always returning to someone, no matter how much time has passed" on this track, calling it one of her moments of "most dazzling emotional maturity and songwriting prowess."
"Pylon" features collaborators beyond just Chino Moreno, including Paramore's Hayley Williams, Turnstile's Brendan Yates, Pinegrove's Evan Stephens Hall, and The 1975's Matty Healy and George Daniel. Title Fight's Shane Moran co-wrote several tracks on the album. Other singles from the record include "Memories," "Switchblade," and "Sun Has Set."
An official lyric video accompanies the track. Beabadoobee is currently on her first-ever arena tour across the UK, Europe, and North America. Next month, she'll play shows across the US and Canada, followed by UK and European dates in November, including a massive show at London's O2 Arena, plus stops in Glasgow, Cardiff, and Manchester. As for Deftones, the band headlined London's Outbreak x All Points East festival last month — their biggest-ever standalone UK show — and also toured across Europe.