The Many Sides of Bella Kay's "My Reckless Abandon"
THE UNSEEN got the chance to pre-listen to Bella Kay's debut album, My Reckless Abandon, ahead of its official release on July 12, and after sitting with it for a while, I can confidently say this is one of the strongest debut records I've heard in a long time.
Disclaimer: Since we had the chance to pre-listen to My Reckless Abandon ahead of its official release, some lyrics mentioned in this review may not be completely accurate. These are the lyrics as I personally understood them while listening!
13 Songs That Feel Entirely Her Own:
The album opens with "Blur", and it immediately feels like coming home. It's classic Bella Kay: understated, guitar-driven, and completely rooted in her identity as a songwriter. My favorite moment comes during the bridge, where she repeats,
How long can we take it? How long can we make it?
while layered vocals slowly build around her. It's simple, but incredibly effective. There is something about the way Bella presents herself as an artist that has always felt so distinct. Whether she's accompanied by an electric or acoustic guitar, she never feels like she's trying to fit into the "singer-songwriter" label. She simply exists within it, making it entirely her own. "Blur" is the perfect opener because it reminds you exactly why people liked her earlier releases in the first place.
The second track, "Promise?", immediately greets you with acoustic guitar chords before unfolding into what is probably the song I personally connected with the most. My favorite part is when Bella sings,
You only left about a minute ago, but I already need to see you again,
before seamlessly transitioning into the chorus. I interpreted the song to be about falling for someone you're only supposed to be friends with, while knowing that saying something could cost you the relationship entirely. That's what makes the chorus stand out, with lyrics along the lines of,
I want you, but I'll never tell you... because if I tell you, you could say I'm not the one, and I couldn't handle that, so if I tell you, promise me I can take it back.
That fear of ruining something good simply because your feelings grew into something more feels painfully honest. Asking for the chance to "take it back" if those feelings aren't reciprocated is such a small detail, but it captures an insecurity that is probably far more universal than we'd like to admit.
Next comes "Say it Say", which immediately makes you blink in surprise because it sounds a little different from what we're used to hearing from Bella. The production is faster-paced, the melody carries more urgency, and the entire song feels more confrontational. Going into the chorus, she sings,
I know you hate me, yeah I can take a hint, you think I'm crazy, wanna hear it from your lips,
before repeatedly demanding, "Say it, say it." The repetition creates this incredible sense of pressure. Her voice sounds persistent, almost desperate to hear the truth spoken aloud instead of left hanging in silence. The bridge pushes the tempo even further before everything crashes back together, and honestly, it works incredibly well.
The fourth track, "karaoke", is probably one of my favorites on the entire album. It begins softly before completely changing pace halfway through, and Bella's delivery changes with it. Her enunciation becomes sharper, the production grows bigger, and the song constantly changes without ever feeling messy. Just when you think it's slowing down for good, it bursts back to life for the finale:
I'm not sure when I might leave, we could ask forever if we never go home,
followed by,
If you love me, let me know, but baby if you don't, don't say it. No.
The final bridge introduces this slightly robotic, electronic treatment to her vocals that fits the atmosphere perfectly. It's subtle enough not to overpower the song while giving it an entirely new dimension. The production here is genuinely outstanding.
Track five is "iloveitiloveitiloveit", the single we've all come to know and love. Looking at it within the context of the album, it makes even more sense why this became Bella's introduction to so many listeners, after her song "The Sick". It carries that familiar singer-songwriter warmth while already hinting at the sonic directions she would continue exploring throughout the rest of the record. Even months after its release, it still feels like a song that belongs uniquely to Bella Kay.
The remaining eight tracks, "STOP", "swu", "Sleep For Dinner", "Mindf*ck", "tongue", "marrow", "A Father's Lament", and "i deserve better." prove that My Reckless Abandon refuses to stay in one lane.
The penultimate track, "A Father's Lament", might be the one that caught me most off guard. It opens with what I presume is a voicemail from Bella's dad, softly saying,
Hi (...), it's your dad... give me a call whenever you can.
The moment I heard it, my mind immediately went to Phoebe Bridgers' rendition of "Summer's End". There is something about hearing a parent's voice at the beginning of a song that instantly makes your stomach drop.
But from there, the song goes somewhere I never expected.
Rather than being a song simply about her relationship with her father, "A Father's Lament" explores the conversations that come with growing up Black and the painful reality that some parents have to prepare their children for a world that might not always treat them kindly. Throughout the song, it's abundantly clear how deeply Bella loves and respects her father, and equally how much every lesson came from a place of protection rather than fear. One lyric that struck me more than any other was,
You're Black, baby girl. Don't waste it.
The song reflects on her father teaching her how she needed to carry herself, reminding her not to be too proud or too loud, not because he wanted to limit who she was, but because he knew he wouldn't always be there to protect her. It is heartbreaking precisely because every piece of advice comes wrapped in love, even as it acknowledges a reality no parent should have to prepare their child for. By the end, the song changes from looking back to looking ahead. Bella sings that she hopes that, fifteen years from now, she won't have to pass those same warnings on to her own children. She prays that the world will have found its peace, that one day those children will simply get to be children without carrying those fears with them. Because she was also just a kid.
For a debut album, this record is honestly kind of insane. While Bella keeps the emotional honesty and guitar-driven storytelling that first introduced so many people to her music, she also refuses to box herself into one specific sound. Instead, every few songs she experiments with a different atmosphere, broadening what a "Bella Kay song" can sound like instead of narrowing it down. It makes the album feel cohesive without ever becoming repetitive.
"Swu" almost feels like an interlude that was recorded alone in your bedroom at three in the morning, while "Sleep For Dinner" is devastatingly honest in a way that almost catches you off guard. One thing that stood out throughout the entire album was just how effortlessly Bella changes the way she uses her voice. One moment it sounds fragile, the next incredibly deep and grounded, then conversational, then almost haunting. It's a quality that becomes especially noticeable on "tongue", which might just be the best example of her vocal versatility on the record.
The album closes with "i deserve better.", bringing everything back to where it started: Bella and her guitar. In a soft, almost comforting voice, she sings about deserving better and refusing to keep blaming herself for someone else's mistakes. It feels like the natural conclusion to everything that came before, ending the album with acceptance rather than resolution.
My Reckless Abandon is exactly what I hoped Bella Kay's debut would be. It stays true to the artist we've gotten to know over the past while confidently expanding her sound without ever losing sight of who she is.
If you haven't listened to My Reckless Abandon yet, what are you waiting for?
LISTEN TO BELLA KAY'S NEW ALBUM HERE:
REVIEW BY
Ilayda
I keep coming back to the same things: music, books, people, and the way certain moments stay longer than they should. Most of what I write starts there and then turns into something I understand a little better.
