Did I Say Too Much?: Jordan Miller Unpacks The Beaches’ latest record, ‘No Hard Feelings’

Our current socialmedia-scape is oozingly oversaturated with healing gurus and self-help queens that preach a “right way” to handle our younger years. The Beaches aren’t sold on it. Known for their party-girl pop-rock and brutal honesty, we can trust their testimony for the tried and true method of “f*ck it up and figure it out.” Lead singer and bassist Jordan Miller breaks down some of the messes made and lessons learned on No Hard Feelings.

PHOTOS BY OLIVE JOLLEY

On their third album, No Hard Feelings, The Beaches are just as brazen, a little more sapphic, and totally in control (of the music, at least). Lead singer and bassist Jordan Miller tells Pleaser, “...for those who really know us, it’s another sort of little joke…there’s still hard feelings but we’re trying. Ultimately it’s another record about four messy girls putting it all out there again.”

No Hard Feelings dances on the line between pop and rock in a glamorous fashion akin to the early 80’s new wave. The powerful musicianship of Leandra Earl and Kylie Miller’s dueling guitars rock out to Eliza Enman McDaniel’s throbbing drums. Jordan Miller’s vocals are the perfect companion— dramatic and commanding. 

The pop-demeanor of their lyricism is driven by catchy choruses and cheeky backing vocals. The anthemic approach to their songwriting is what makes raunchier themes on the album, such as that of “Touch Myself,” more approachable to the mainstream. Miller explains that she feels compelled to be as honest as possible, regardless of how touchy the subject: “It’s an unhealthy impulse but it makes for good music.” 

Letting It Out, Letting It Go

Fans can trust The Beaches to tell it exactly as it is. No topic is too sensitive, as the band introduced early on with their 2023 viral hit, “Blame Brett.” Jaws hit the floor when they first feasted upon clips of Miller directly calling out her ex, catapulting The Beaches to “messy girl icons.” As “Blame Brett” rapidly gained traction, Miller faced an inner strife: how do you let go of what hurt you when it’s following you everywhere? 

“What I was really worried about on Blame My Ex and then on some of the songs on No Hard Feelings...how’s it going to feel to relive these traumatic moments over and over again? What I found is that once the song is finished it’s no longer yours. It becomes something your audience is beholden to. Once it's sort of theirs, you start to not let the song be about your one experience but lean into their experiences. Let it be something for them to hold onto. It becomes easier rather than reliving what traumatized you.”

“Jocelyn” If You Hear This…

After adapting the practice of separating song from experience, the sudden sensation of Blame My Ex confronted The Beaches with another obstacle of the spotlight: imposter syndrome. It’s a theme that appears wearing different costumes on No Hard Feelings and especially on “Jocelyn.” The track’s lyrics assume the outfit of a conversation between Miller and an innominate fan.

“I don’t know exactly how we came up with the name…Do you remember the show The Idol, the terrible Weeknd show?…I think because Lily Rose Depp’s character in the show is named Jocelyn, and we were talking about the show as we were writing that song. The name was just in the atmosphere. But, we didn’t necessarily start out with it. I wanted to write about the jarring experience after ‘Blame Brett.’ Becoming famous as being a girl who one-upped their ex so to speak, when in reality I was still deeply in love with him and…(whispers) at the time still hooking up with him. I wanted to speak to a nameless girl and say, ‘Hey if you’re treating me as a role model please don’t…I am just as f*cked up as you’…Funny enough we came up with the name and then looked on our Instagram if we had any fans named Jocelyn. We found one and kind of used her as a bit of a reference point. To be honest I’ve since looked for her on our fan page and she is no longer there…I don’t know what happened to her…”

Your Morning After Is Basically a No Hard Feelings Song

The record is able to capture the spirit of a debrief effortlessly by reason that it's a direct product of some. Citing Sex and The City as her inspiration, Miller carried around a journal while constructing the album, documenting her and her bandmates’ daily exchanges. The heart-pumping instrumentals and catchy choruses of No Hard Feelings translate conversations between close friends into humorous instances and earnest admittances that feel just as familiar to the listener. 

“What I find so special about this record is that I feel like it’s an exchange amongst four friends, either happening at an after-party when you’re in the bathroom together— a pee and tea, or it’s after a crazy night going for breakfast.

But I think that exchange amongst four young women is really interesting. It’s what’s really special about our band and I feel not many take advantage of…If you think about a band’s music, it’s the musical contributions of four people, so why not also include the lyrical perspectives and the identities of all four people as well? There’s more to play with and it’s more interesting than having one person always leading the focus.”

Professionally and personally, The Beaches are an act of sisterhood. When discussing the record, Miller refers to tracks as “Leandra songs” or “Kylie songs,” respectively. She went as far to interject that “Can I Call You In The Morning” is actually “a Kylie song.” The lyric, “Jordan don’t do it”, was changed from “Kylie don’t do it” for the sake of phonetic aesthetics. Miller’s gesture of clarification proves that the forthcomingness of The Beaches doesn’t only apply to their exes. Most of the time, they’re really thinking about their friends first.

“Lesbian of The Year”! Are You Ready To Accept?

In terms of the debrief, “Lesbian of the Year” discusses themes not as easily shrugged off as out-toxicing your other half. It’s a sincere confrontation to the parasocial relationships some fans have bestowed upon Earl in recent years. The track’s ballad tone strips back every element except for Earl on keys and Miller on the mic. The two queer members of The Beaches surrender their rock personas to share an intimate moment with their audience that says, “We’ll be there for you, but let us be here for ourselves too.”

“I’m paraphrasing for her…but Leandra came out a little bit later in life after we started the band. When she came out, and as “Blame Brett” was becoming famous, she started getting a lot of messages from fans putting her on an extreme pedestal that even I couldn’t really understand. Not only filling her inbox with a lot of stories about their own queer experiences, but she got a lot of trauma dumping that was kind of difficult to hear. She spoke candidly about this on Shannon Beveridges’ podcast about how vulnerable and scary that experience was being newly queer herself, having to be a role model and somebody that could give guidance to a lot of lost people…The immense pride she felt in that experience, but also the fear of the immense responsibility being held as the ‘paragon of all lesbians’ I guess… ‘Lesbian of The Year’ was kind of written about that. It was touching and beautiful to write that with her and to sing to the young closeted version of my bandmate who I love so much and feel so much pride for.”

We Make This Mess Together

The confidence to approach a difficult discourse, like that of “Lesbian of The Year” emphasizes The Beaches’ respect for both sides of the artist/audience relationship. Fans feel like they’re valued as friends, and they trust Miller and her bandmates not to hold back— which they never once do on a single No Hard Feelings song. Time and time again, The Beaches show us how to celebrate showing up as we are. 

“Especially when it comes to rock music it’s a really exciting time to be female, non-binary, a person of color, or a queer person, because I think rock music has always been a place to celebrate the voices of outsiders and the people who can come together and forge a strong community…I think people need a place to feel seen and let loose and have fun and we are super excited to provide them with a safe space to do all of that.”

On their No Hard Feelings world tour, The Beaches certainly fulfill that mission. Their shows ignite the audience with the excitement of a pregame and the comradery of an over-packed Uber ride home. Starting this month, Miller and her bandmates will return to the motherland for a string of shows in Canada. For United States fans, 2026 beholds plenty more opportunities to make a mess with The Beaches, as they’ll be joining Louis Tomlinson on his How Did We Get Here? tour. Miller hints:

“Expect a party, as always.”