Beabadoobee has told NME about her upcoming second album ‘Beatopia’ during a backstage interview at Glastonbury 2022.

The returning Dirty Hit-signed artist made her debut appearance at the Worthy Farm festival earlier today (June 25), playing on the John Peel Stage.

“It was much more of a physical thing when I was seven,” she explained of the “dream world” behind ‘Beatopia’, which she invented in 2007. “I thought I could literally be in this world – I think it was just a way of escaping everything that was happening in life at that time, and then I forgot about it because shit happened. Then I just realised that I could finally accept it now and I could make a whole album about it and find myself within it.”

The record, which will be released on July 15, is less about escapism, however, and more about “tackling things that you pushed under the rug for ages”.

“It’s very liberating,” the musician commented on being able to process those life events in her songs. “When you write songs [about them] it’s a positive outcome, especially when you’re writing about something that wasn’t necessarily positive.”

Among the tracklist – which includes the previously released ‘Talk’, ‘Lovesong’, ‘10:36’ and ‘See You Soon’ – is a collaboration with PinkPantheress called ‘Tinkerbell Is Overrated’. “She’s just my mate,” Beabadoobee explained of the team-up. “We’re in the same scene and around the same age. It just kind of happened, we were just in the studio together – I had the song already and she just jumped on it.”

Yesterday saw the first main day of music at Glastonbury 2022, with a Pyramid Stage headline set from Billie Eilish, Foals closing out The Other Stage, an opening set from The Libertines, and performances from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Little Simz, Sugababes, Wet Leg, St Vincent, IDLES, Sam Fender, Yard Act, Sleaford Mods and many more.

After an intimate warm-up gig in Frome, Paul McCartney will close the Pyramid Stage tonight after a day that will see performances from Noel Gallagher, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Jamie T, Yungblud, The Avalanches, Burna Boy, Jessie Ware and many more. Find the full line-up and set times here.

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.