The circumstances of the track's creation read like performance art: vocals and lyrics captured within a five-minute window of consciousness, somewhere between dream and waking in his bedroom. It's a gambit that could easily dissolve into self-indulgent navel-gazing, yet BE|AH has stumbled upon something rather profound in his semi-conscious state.
"Would You?" operates on the knife-edge between hope and resignation, its central refrain—"would you even though I know you won't"—crystallising that peculiar human tendency to ask questions to which we already know the devastating answers. It's the sonic equivalent of touching a bruise, simultaneously painful and oddly satisfying.
The DIY aesthetic isn't merely a stylistic choice here but a necessary component of the song's DNA. The apartment recording carries the weight of genuine solitude, each note seemingly recorded not for an audience but as a form of personal archaeology. There's an appealing roughness to the production that recalls the lo-fi sensibilities of early Guided by Voices or the bedroom recordings of Alex G, though BE|AH's country-tinged influences—gleaned from childhood road trips soundtracked by outlaw country—add a distinctly transatlantic flavour to the proceedings.
What elevates "Would You?" beyond mere bedroom pop pastiche is its refusal to prettify the creative process. BE|AH's admission that he perpetually feels his work is "terrible" isn't false modesty but a recognition of the gap between artistic intention and execution—a gap that, paradoxically, often contains the most interesting music.
The track's restraint is its greatest strength. There are no grand gestures or overwrought arrangements, just the quiet desperation of someone trying to make sense of their own emotional geography. It's music for 3am drives and empty rooms, for anyone who's ever posed a question while secretly dreading the answer.
In an era of algorithmic perfection and playlist optimisation, BE|AH's willingness to embrace the messy, uncertain nature of human experience feels quietly revolutionary. "Would You?" succeeds precisely because it doesn't try too hard to succeed—a paradox that would make sense to anyone who's ever fallen in love with a song recorded on a four-track in someone's spare room.
The single marks not just a release but a statement of intent from an artist unafraid to mine his own uncertainty for gold. Whether BE|AH can sustain this level of vulnerable authenticity across a full release remains to be seen, but for now, "Would You?" stands as a small, perfect encapsulation of what it means to create something beautiful from the raw materials of doubt and longing.
"Would You?" is available now. BE|AH performs regularly on his YouTube channel RomRock.