Beija Flo - Head or Tails

Anyone who has ever been to Harlow will probably agree that the place needs a bit of love and attention. It’s the epitome of the planners dream goes wrong. There are roundabouts, crumbling buildings and a smattering of retail parks, and not a lot else apart from of course the often forgotten human beings.

One of those human beings, Beija Flo has written her latest single about her hometown Harlow, which was up until a couple of years ago the most murderous town in England and Wales. ‘Heads or Tails’ is just over a minute and a half of punchy, acerbic pop punk, starting and end with ‘this is destroying us inside’, and the first of a special trio of songs recorded at SPQR’s Yellowbird Studio and produced by Sam Baker.
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Beija says of the single:  
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I wrote Heads or Tails in my hometown, Harlow in Essex. Until a couple of years ago we were the most murderous town in England and Wales. Over the years I’ve watched the beautiful sculpture town, my Grandad helped build, continuously vote Conservative - who constantly make empty promises and cut funding. There’s a block of old offices on top of a car park in the centre of town where vulnerable people have been forced to move into, due to lack of affordable housing in and around London.

They’re not converted offices, just offices with beds in. Small, cramped. One room for a whole family. They call it the human warehouse. There’s nothing for the locals. No nightclub. Barely any restaurants. There’s nothing for young people. There’s nothing there at all. Just this grey, dull, sadness.

​Up and down the country, there’s Harlow’s all over. It’s broken Britain. It makes me want to scream. ‘Heads Or Tails’ is the rusty ferris wheel that just keeps turning, going absolutely nowhere. The loud neighbours next door with the dog constantly in the garden. Hooded boy, in and out of the front door. Endless. Horrific. Sad. Intoxicated. Hilarious. Hopeful. Hopeless. Unflattering desperation. Omnipresent insanity. You hate it. You want to hug it. You can’t describe it. You can’t taste it.

Given her hardy roots, Beija was perhaps a natural choice for America’s favourite serial killer Dexter (Michael C Hall) and his band, Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum on their first UK tour. Beija will be opening for them across the UK in November and December.

All of Beija Flo’s music, along with a selection of poetry, merch and artwork, is available on her Bandcamp, with all the proceeds funding these current releases: https://iambeijaflo.bandcamp.com/ 

LIVE DATES
 
OCTOBER
Sat 23rd - w/ GENN, FUTURE YARD, Birkenhead - TICKETS (band)
Tue 26th - w/ Fuzzy Logic , Folklore, London - TICKETS (band)
 
NOVEMBER
Sat 6th - The Secret Circus, Liverpool - TICKETS (co-host)
Sun 14th - Homotopia Closing Party, Lovelocks, Liverpool (piano)
Wed 24th - w/ Seatbelts, Headrow House, Leeds - TICKETS (band)
Sat 27th - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, Thekla Bristol - TICKETS (solo)
Sun 28th - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham - TICKETS (solo)
Mon 29th - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, Night & Day, Manchester - TICKETS (solo)
Tue 30th - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, Bush Hall, London - TICKETS (solo)
 
DECEMBER
Thu 2nd - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, Esquires, Bedford - TICKETS (solo)
Fri 3rd - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, The Castle & Falcon, B’ham - TICKETS (solo)
Thu 9th - w/ Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum, 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool - TICKETS (solo)