I wasn’t ready for barDe (pronounced bard-ee). Her debut single “What the Hell, Hey” showed up in my playlist like an uninvited but necessary intervention, and honestly, I needed it more than I realized.
This Manchester based Irish-American singer-songwriter has crafted something that feels like a mirror being held up to every messy relationship moment you’ve tried to forget. The track opens with this vintage guitar sound that immediately transports you to the 90s, but her voice cuts through any nostalgia with brutal honesty that feels completely current.
What gets me about “What the Hell, Hey” is how it captures that specific moment when you finally see someone clearly after months of making excuses for them. barDe doesn’t sugarcoat it or wrap it in pretty metaphors. She just lays it out there, and suddenly you’re remembering every time you ignored your gut because you wanted to believe in someone who wasn’t worth it.
Her vocals remind me of Fiona Apple’s fearlessness mixed with Regina Spektor’s unexpected turns, but there’s something uniquely hers in how she delivers each line. You can hear the frustration, the relief, and yes, even some dark humor in realizing you’ve been played.
The production feels intentionally unpolished in the best way. Those vintage instruments and 90s electric guitar tones create this perfect backdrop for the kind of song you want to scream along to in your car after a particularly awful dating experience.
“What the Hell, Hey” is apparently just the beginning. It’s from her upcoming album “The Pretty Red Flag Revival,” which promises to be a collection of these kinds of wake up calls. If this single is any indication, barDe is positioning herself as the friend who tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
This isn’t just another breakup song. It’s for everyone who’s ever disappeared on themselves trying to make someone else happy. For the unrepentant romantics who keep falling for the same patterns. For anyone who needs permission to finally get angry about being ghosted.
barDe has created something that makes heartbreak feel less lonely and more like a shared experience we can actually learn from. That’s no small feat.
You can listen here.
