Syd is no longer in the Broken Hearts Club. After processing a painful breakup on her 2022 sophomore album, the Internet‘s frontwoman is back feeling better than ever on her third solo LP, Beard, out now via Free Lunch/Warner Records.
A sense of growth is ever-present on Beard, which finds the singer, who recently revealed her marriage to wife Ariana Simone, with a newfound pride, enjoying the finer side of love. We typically associate vulnerability with sadness, often praising an artist for having the courage to be transparent about a painful time in their life. But Beard feels even more unguarded. It takes a different kind of bravery to reconnect with yourself, let your guard down to be open to love again and wear that badge of happiness openly.
Opening with “Walls,” Syd isn’t talking about holding up her defenses from past baggage. Instead, she sets the mood with a sultry come-on. It’s the foreplay that makes the penultimate “Water,” produced by Rodney Jerkins, a rewarding listen. That sensuality lingers in “Jasmin 17,” where Syd is enraptured by the sweet scent of musk, sandalwood and vanilla in her lover’s Le Labo fragrance. Her vocals shift from her signature misty delivery into lower notes over a sun-kissed production. After experiencing a lost love, Syd will do all she can to protect it as she professes on “My Love,” which glides over a Cuban-flavored backdrop. “Holster on my waist / So I can keep them off you,” she warns, softly but surely.
Beard also includes the previously shared singles “Callin” featuring Blu June and “2 Many Days,” plus the James Fauntleroy-assisted “Any Time,” which includes writing and production contributions from Raphael Saadiq. The latter track, set to warm piano chords, captures the rhythmic movement of a relationship: “Every time I’m running from you, I lose, yeah,” she concedes. The album features additional collaborations with Big Sean, Jordan Ward and CUBE.
Regarding her new album, Syd said in a statement, “Beard is a coming of age album for me. It’s a snapshot of what my life looks like right now. The title was inspired by the peach fuzz on my upper lip that society has always taught me to hate. I fell in love with my peach fuzz and it made me rethink everything that was supposed to make me feel insecure. It allowed me to take my confidence into my own hands, and own everything that I am and everything I love about myself, regardless of what anyone else thinks.”
She added, “The title also represents the way I see myself in relation to my peers, especially in music. ‘The bearded lady.’ Not so much a spectacle in my case, but an anomaly and an outlier. Hard to compare. I’m owning that too. Taking things that were once insecurities and flipping them on their head has been extremely empowering.”
As indicated above, Beard is the follow-up to Syd’s 2022 album, Broken Hearts Club. The latter featured “CYBAH” with Lucky Daye and “Out Loud” with Kehlani. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Syd reflected on her second album and where it stands with her today. “I lost some of that mojo going through that heartbreak,” she told the publication. “I love Broken Hearts Club as a project, but as a performer, I knew it wasn’t my best because I was so heartbroken. But I had to get that out in order to move on.”
Check out Syd’s Beard below.