Dreary New England weekends in January were practically designed for staring out a window filled with angst. And thankfully, North London non-binary pop pioneer Jazmin Bean is here to provide the soundtrack with their latest single, “You Know What You’ve Done.” The anthemic break-up track arrived last Friday (January 19) to set the tone ahead of their debut album Traumatic Livelihood, due February 23 via Island Records.
“This song is about feeling remorseful, revengeful and getting payback on a lover who didn’t take accountability,” Bean says.
The rock-tinged pop ballad opens and closes dreamily with strings before they come in with a tangible anger in their voice, singing of heartbreak and disbelief at ever staying with a former beau. Pseudo-tough guitars land to bring an edge to the track as Bean revels in the fact that “payback takes its course without lifting a finger.” It all feels very ’90s and ’00s alternative — the raw emotion, the Oasis-esque cello and electric guitar that miraculously mesh, the extravagance of it all — but Bean executes it without the final product feeling overtly tacky. “You Know What You’ve Done” is a campy catharsis neatly packaged into three minutes and change.
To accompany the release, Bean shares a music video for the song that features the artist in their trademark over-the-top style. Dressed in white, Bean stands in a lush field visibly staged on a set, with their band stoically dressed as flowers as the group performs “You Know What You’ve Done.” Full of cuts to Bean in intricate costuming singing directly to the camera, the video sits under the sheen of a grainy filter, only adding to a nostalgia for the imperfect bygone era of music videos reigning supreme.
Check it out below, while wistfully looking at that dusty CD collection and reminiscing on a love long gone.