Taken from debut album ‘High Expectations’ (released August 2nd on Polydor Records)
The Focus single remains as ‘Mad Love’
“One of the year’s breakout stars” – Sunday Times
“Unflinchingly honest, earnestly positive, and resolutely single-minded” – Vogue
“Mabel has cemented herself as one of the most exciting (and consistently great) British talents”- Gay Times
“Flipping the music-world male gaze without missing a beat” – Dazed
“A richness and honest that sets her out” – Noisey
Mabel has today unveiled ‘Bad Behaviour’ – a thrilling highlight from from her much-anticipated debut album ‘High Expectations’, which will see a release on August 2nd on Polydor Records and also includes global smash ‘Don’t Call Me Up’ (also the biggest-selling single by a UK female artist this year) and fellow recent Top 10, ‘Mad Love’. Continuing her run of festival dates and intimate launch shows this summer, Mabel’s massive ‘High Expectations’ headline tour is on sale now, and will follow an extensive run of global dates with Khalid this autumn.
Produced by Dre Skull (Popcaan, Drake, Wizkid), ‘Bad Behaviour’ is a killer blend of role-reversal R&B, dancehall, and anthemic call-and-response: a playful but empowered call on double standards, instead demanding that a man keep up with you for a change. Already a live highlight, the hard-earned confidence radiating from ‘Bad Behaviour’ is another teasing glimpse of ‘High Expectations’ – a record which finds catharsis in its exploration of expectation (as a woman; of love and sex; of others; and ultimately of yourself).
‘Bad Behaviour’ is a stark reminder of the journey Mabel has undertaken to live out her wildest pop-star-dreams (but in thoroughly modern, warts-and-all style). Indeed, ‘High Expectations’ is an album – and a state-of-mind, in many ways – that she has worked towards her whole life (even getting the title tattooed phonetically on her neck when she first thought of it two years ago, knowing firmly that it would never change). Still aged just 23 years old, the already-twice-Brit-nominated artist has written with startling candour on young love, identity, girl power, and mental health – topics which are taken to greater heights on her debut album. And on that road to ‘High Expectations’, Mabel’s music has become a soundtrack – for her impassioned young female fanbase, but also for herself – on how to turn those vulnerabilities into your advantages.
Stripping away music’s artifice while keeping true to its giddiness and excitement is Mabel’s special gift. Out of some troubling times she has fashioned a sensational, fizzing debut record, a blue-chip British album which can sit proudly on a global stage next to The Weeknd, Ariana, Drake and whatever Queens B and R have in mind for their 2019. In mood, if not exactly in sound, it has some of the complete realisation of early TLC or Aaliyah, had they spent their teenage years in Sweden, Malaga, or the backstreets of West London. The calling card of ‘High Expectations’ is the brusque, street charm that hides in plain sight among the hooky gloss of something like ‘Bad Behaviour’, and anchors the album’s emotional resonance. “I want to send a positive message to everyone that’s going to listen to it. I’ve gained so much confidence from writing this album and that’s what I want people to take away.”
Now poised to join the pantheon of international pop greats, her tireless energy, positivity and drive were never going to allow Mabel to settle for anything other than ‘High Expectations’. In 2019 watch Mabel meet them and keep reaching higher still.
