With her soft vocals and sharp pen, Bebe Stockwell introduces herself as a diaristic songwriter of rare clarity, crafting vivid vignettes of love, loss, and growing up on her intimate major-label debut EP, ‘Driving Backwards.’
‘Driving Backwards’ EP – Bebe Stockwell
We all have personal stories, and I wanted this EP to celebrate the beauty in holding on to those memories. It’s about honoring the past without getting stuck in it.
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If a city or a season had a sound, then summer in New York would sound like Bebe Stockwell’s debut EP, Driving Backwards.
Stockwell never feels sorry for herself on the record. If she hurts, it’s not forever. Released May 9th via Columbia Records, Driving Backwards was co-produced by Stockwell and a number of other co-producers including Jack Riley, Mona Khoshoi, Jeremy Schmetterer and Johnny May. Sonically and lyrically the record evokes the singer/songwriters of the ‘70s – Carly Simon, Don McClean, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Labi Siffre. Stockwell’s vocals have the ease and warm familiarity of Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux.
Bebe Stockwell was born in Boston and started writing songs and playing piano and guitar at age six. At 15, she attended the Berklee School of Music 5-week summer program which solidified her love for music and songwriting and exposed her to other genres such as jazz, indie and pop which you hear woven into her music.
You only have to listen to the opening song “Minor Inconveniences” and you can hear a blend of influences, all filtered through Stockwell’s older-than-her-years voice, which is at once her own and also the voice of those who came before her. The song is funny, tragic, uplifting and hopeful all at once. Stockwell lists, well, her minor inconveniences but rounds up each annoyance, which ranges from a hangover to a one night stand who won’t leave, with the line, “They say the minor inconveniences are part of the experience of life, And these minor inconveniences are part of the experiences of mine.”
Burnt toast, milk’s bad
Stubbed my toe on the doorstep
My cat’s lost, my keys gone
My neighbor mows at the break of dawn
And they ask me how I’m doing
And I say, “I’m fine”
There’s an intimacy and a coziness to the record and Stockwell’s writing. It often feels like hanging out with your best friend in their living room as the light plays on the floor and the record spins.
In the standout track “Ruined,” Stockwell angrily tells an ex how he’s ruined all her favourite pastimes. The song is short and reminds me of a Haiku poem. It’s succinct and leaves no room for interpretation, which is sometimes what a breakup song needs to be; ‘they suck and here’s why.’
Tube lines, you ruined that
Big Ben, you ruined that
Knew it then, looking back
That I was shrinking in
To make you feel better when
You felt lesser than
On the title track, “Driving Backwards,” Stockwell duets with Chance Emerson. The song is the polar opposite to a breakup song. It’s a story of comfort, of building a life and a love with someone. Stockwell’s and Emerson’s vocals weave in and out of each other, falling and soaring, just like a good relationship does. There’s a folksy rhythm to the instrumentation, leaving the listener feeling upbeat and happy. The song packs a whole lifetime into it, which is what I mean about Stockwell’s writing: There’s a coziness to her stories. She takes big, overwhelming, sometimes heartbreaking feelings and makes them feel manageable, like you’re making yourself a soothing cup of tea.
It feels like an understatement
Not like the day we made it
Driving backwards
But time lay the first foundations
The rest was imagination
Building upwards
The closing song “Live Forever” is the one that made me really fall in love with the record – and with Stockwell as an artist. It is such a pure love song. It’s unrequited, but perhaps because of this, it has an innocence to it. No one’s been hurt yet, there’s no mess or baggage. The mood and the arrangement of the song along with Stockwell’s vocals remind me so much of Madeleine Peyroux’s re-imagination of Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.”
It’s the way you break your smile
It’s the smell of your hair
It’s the way you pick your sweaters
To match the shoes you wear
It’s the way you say good morning
With a crackle in your tone
Oh, it’s all these little things
That make me love you even more
Over the summer, Atwood Magazine spoke with Stockwell about how she made her debut EP, the first song she wrote for the record, what New York City would sound like if it was a piece of music, and what “driving backwards” means to her.
For Stockwell, Driving Backwards isn’t just a formal introduction to her art and artistry; it’s a record deep rooted in her own identity and upbringing, her loved ones and cherished spaces. “Driving Backwards is about a family building a home – a metaphorical one and a literal one,” she shares. “It’s about legacy, memory, and the spaces where we grow together. I hope people hear it and think of their own places like that – somewhere full of family, history, and love.”
With wit, warmth, and an eye for emotional detail, Bebe Stockwell captures the quiet chaos of early adulthood in all its tenderness and contradiction. Whether she’s nursing a hangover, mourning a lost love, or building something lasting from memory, she does it with grace and clarity far beyond her years. If this EP is any indication, Stockwell is just getting started – and we’ll be following wherever she goes next.
Read our interview below, and listen to Driving Backwards wherever you stream music!
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:: stream/purchase Driving Backwards here ::
:: connect with Bebe Stockwell here ::
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Stream: “Want Me” – Bebe Stockwell
A CONVERSATION WITH BEBE STOCKWELL
Atwood Magazine: Thank you for agreeing to speak to Atwood Magazine about your debut EP Driving Backwards. I have to say, it’s a perfect summer in New York record. It reminds me sonically and lyrically of a lot of the music of ‘70s’, Carly Simon, Don McClean, Bob Dylan. Your voice also reminds me so much of Madeleine Peyroux – in other words, I’m stoked that your record found its way to me! You named your EP Driving Backwards; why that title and what does it mean to you?
Bebe Stockwell: Driving Backwards is about reflection – looking back at where we’ve been and realizing how far we’ve come. We all have personal stories, and I wanted this EP to celebrate the beauty in holding on to those memories. It’s about honoring the past without getting stuck in it.
“Minor Inconveniences” is a brilliant opening. It is funny but also really heartbreaking, but then hopeful. Where did that song come from? It feels like it’s been picked straight from your diary.
Bebe Stockwell: It kind of is! It started with a bad hangover and a week of listening to Bob Dylan non-stop. I was in session, joking around, and randomly said, “And I’m doing fine,” because it sounded like something Dylan would say. Then we started listing all the little annoyances we’d dealt with that week – and this song just kind of happened. I love how simple and honest it is.
What were you listening to when you made this record?
Bebe Stockwell: A lot of Bob Dylan, Adele, James Taylor, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, The Lumineers, and Regina Spektor. A pretty eclectic mix, but all artists who tell stories in really moving ways.
What was the first song you wrote for Driving Backwards, and out of interest, what was the last song?
Bebe Stockwell: The first was “Call Me by Your Name,” which I wrote in high school as a Christmas gift for my dad. He always encouraged me to write songs inspired by movies and books. That year we watched Call Me by Your Name five times, and he asked me to write something from Elio’s perspective. It’s wild how long ago that was – still really love the song. The last track I finished was “Live Forever.”
Was the record tracked live? Where did you record it? It has a very sparse but yet rich feeling to it. I have never been to New York, but the sound of the record is what I think NYC sounds, feels and looks like.
Bebe Stockwell: That’s such a lovely thing to say. The EP was recorded in both NYC and LA. I started working on it while I was still at NYU, collaborating closely with Jack Riley and Lieko. We finished “Call Me by Your Name” and “Minor Inconveniences” in New York, and then I finished the rest in LA. But I definitely wanted the whole thing to still feel like New York and New England, so I’m really glad that comes through.
“Call Me By Your Name” is such a delicate song with such tragic lyrics – “Someday you'll come back and we'll stay/ In the loft where we hid and we'll drown in our secrets/ And I never had to let a good thing go/ But as I look to the sky, the one question inside was/ ‘Is it better to speak or to die?’” Where did this song come from?
Bebe Stockwell: It’s actually the oldest song on the record. My dad used to ask me to write songs based on books or movies we watched together. That year, we were obsessed with Call Me by Your Name, and he asked for a song about it for Christmas. I wrote it from Elio’s point of view, capturing that intense, young, impossible kind of love. The line you mentioned is a direct quote from the film – included it because it felt so vulnerable and honest.
How does your physical environment influence your writing and playing music?
Bebe Stockwell: It’s super important. I need the space to feel cozy and calm, but also open. More than anything, I care about the people in the room-if the vibe is kind, collaborative, and comfortable, I can create freely. That’s everything to me.
Has the person who “ruined” London been told this song is about him?
Bebe Stockwell: Hah! No, definitely not. We’re not on speaking terms… so I’m really hoping he hasn’t heard it.
You co-produced a lot of this record; what was that experience like?
Bebe Stockwell: Since this was my first EP, I wanted to be involved in every step. My songs usually start with just me and my guitar, so it was important to me that the final productions stayed true to that feeling. I wanted everything to sound as organic and honest as possible.
Do you have a favourite lyric from the songs on the record?
Bebe Stockwell: “If you call me by your name, I’ll call you by mine.” It’s my favorite because of how closely it’s tied to the film. That line is lifted directly from it, and it felt right to include something so personal and emotional.
Since this was my first EP, I wanted to be involved in every step… I wanted everything to sound as organic and honest as possible.
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What do you hope listeners and fans take away from ‘Driving Backwards’?
Bebe Stockwell: Driving Backwards is about a family building a home – a metaphorical one and a literal one. I wrote about my family’s cabin in Maine, which my great-grandparents built and where we still gather with our extended family. It’s about legacy, memory, and the spaces where we grow together. I hope people hear it and think of their own places like that – somewhere full of family, history, and love.
Finally, I have to ask about “Live Forever.” It took me a couple of listens to really absorb what the song was about. I kept getting distracted by the piano part and your voice. The song reminds me so much of Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me” and Madeleine Peyroux’s Careless Love, both in terms of instrumentation but also storytelling. Your song is such an innocent love song. There are no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ It is so pure. Would you mind telling me what inspired the song, how you came up with the sound, and what made you put it as the last on the EP?
Bebe Stockwell: That means a lot – thank you. I wrote it on a plane after watching About Time, my favorite rom-com. The main character can time travel, and I was flying back from visiting my ex-boyfriend, just feeling really full of love and wishing I could stretch out that moment forever. I started jotting down everything I loved about him, and it turned into this song. It felt right to end the EP with something that soft and open-hearted.
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:: stream/purchase Driving Backwards here ::
:: connect with Bebe Stockwell here ::
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© Spruce BohenDriving Backwards
an EP bt Bebe Stockwell
