Built on Breakups, Powered by Friendship: Inside The Beaches’ World Tour Era

If there’s one band who know their way around heartbreak, it’s Toronto rockers The Beaches.

 In 2023, they soundtracked a generation of the gloriously wronged with ‘Blame Brett’, a stadium-sized scream-sing that turned frontwoman and bassist Jordan Miller’s breakup into collective therapy. But heartbreak, like a cursed relay baton, doesn’t rest for long. At the top of last year, it landed firmly in the hands of guitarist Leandra Earl.

Now, two-thirds of the way through the band’s sprawling No Hard Feelings world tour, Earl finds herself once again swimming in familiar emotional waters, equal parts ache, growth and guitar riffs.

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“I am going through a break up so I would love to get back on the road…,” she admits, laughing with the kind of honesty that suggests survival mode is in full swing. “In between the No Hard Feelings tours there’s been a bit of heartbreak. It’s been nice to be home and reset. I just moved into this apartment so I’m trying to chill and see all of my friends… The first leg of it was two months and it was so much fun and so great to be back out there with my best friends. I just love touring with my friends. It’s a dream come true. We’re really excited to do Europe and do Australia, we’re all doing dry January to prepare for the parties.”

Heartbreak may sting, but it also fuels The Beaches’ most emotionally raw record yet. No Hard Feelings is built on the bones of Earl’s breakup, a record that doesn’t flinch from vulnerability but dances with it instead.

“A lot of the songs are about my breakup last year… I’ll be in the car blasting them and really love the music we made but then I’m like ‘urgh the lyrics are really hitting’,” she laughs.

Taking those songs on the road hasn’t meant reopening wounds so much as transforming them. Still, Earl admits she was nervous stepping onstage night after night, sharing something so personal with rooms full of strangers.

“I thought it would be and I was nervous at first… the first couple of times I was like ‘oh this stings a little bit’ but then it quickly becomes a song you share with the fanbase and it becomes everyone’s song and everyone can relate to it. It’s for everyone, it’s not our song anymore. I felt really empowered by that… It’s being vulnerable with people you don’t necessarily know.”

That vulnerability doesn’t stop at heartbreak. No Hard Feelings also captures Earl’s journey of self-discovery within the LGBTQIA+ community, nowhere more boldly than on the gloriously unapologetic ‘Lesbian of the Year’. It’s a song that doesn’t whisper or tiptoe. It kicks the door down.

“I get a lot of DM’s with the queer aspect of it, especially with ‘Lesbian of the Year’ about how that song has help people in their identity or with coming out to family or accept themselves and it has been wonderful to hear how music can help. I know it does for me.”

Earl’s own coming-out process was deeply shaped by High School, the memoir by indie icons Tegan and Sara, gifted to her mid-tour by bandmate Kylie Miller. The book became a quiet lifeline, read late at night while the tour bus rolled on.

“…I would read that book in my bunk and cry, feeling regret and sadness for the younger version of me not realising that about myself and reading about them going through it as pre-teens… I was like this is what I’m going through now as a 27 year old, I feel so late to the game, and it brought up a lot of emotions. It was really nice to meet them and tell them that because that book meant so much to me trying to heal that shame I felt as a child. It was really important and I wanted to put those feelings into ‘Lesbian of the Year’.”

That emotional honesty has become The Beaches’ superpower, and they are far from alone in wielding it. The band have found kindred spirits in Australian LGBTQIA+ icon G Flip, with whom they collaborated on ‘Last Girls At The Party’. Friendship, chaos and creative chemistry flow easily between them.

“We’ve been friends with G for a little bit now and every time we hang out is such a fun time… We’re about to do some writing sessions here in Toronto with G in a couple of days and I’m like why am I sober now but it’s all in preparation for the big tour. We just can’t wait to get on the road supporting G Flip in Australia. It’s going to be a wild ride for sure. Our poor livers!”

Heartbreak, healing, self-discovery and absolute bangers, The Beaches are turning it all into something communal, cathartic and joyfully loud. Catch the ultimate LGBTQIA+ partystarters at Margaret Court Arena on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 March.

Bring tissues. Bring your best mates. Prepare your hearts, and your voices, for this one.

Final tickets to see The Beaches support G Flip on the Dream Ride tour can be purchased here.