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- For the song, see Traumatic Livelihood (Song). For the unreleased album, see Traumatic Livelihood (EFF).
Traumatic Livelihood is debut major-label studio album by Jazmin Bean. It was released on February 23, 2024, through Aswang Birthday Cake, Island Records, Interscope Records, and Universal Music Group.
Background
- To see a in-depth timeline on the album, click here.
Initially, Bean had a different direction for their debut album, describing it as having a "summer" slash "electronic" vibe. The album was nearly complete, with two singles already released, when Bean decided to scrap the project in June 2022. Over time, they found themselves less connected to the work after attending rehab from April to early June 2022. After going to rehab, their musical direction shifted, and they began creating more pop-punk inspired tracks. These songs would eventually form a foundation for the new record, including tracks like "Piggie".
❝ It was actually pretty good, but I was just on a lot of drugs. I wanted to rewrite tracks to avoid any sense of ‘woe is me’.
There’s a lot of strings, a lot less electronics; I just wanted to make something that felt extremely powerful to listen to ❞ — Jazmin Bean
On December 9, 2022, Bean announced that the three singles, "R U Looking 4 Me Now", "Puppy Pound", and "Carnage", from the early version of the album would not be apart of final track list. In a statement, Bean explained that these songs were scrapped because, "An album is supposed to be your best current work, not four-year-old work."
After deciding to rework the album, Bean wrote the songs "Afraid Then, Afraid Now" (Favourite Toy), "Shit Show", and "Traumatic Livelihood", and went on to develop the project from 2022 to 2023. On September 22, 2023 Bean went on to Twitter to announce that the album track-list and cover had been submitted for release. They said they could not yet give a date for the release, but it would be revealed soon.[1]
Name
Th album's title was decided long before the album revision, first being mentioned in 2021. Despite the album changing, the title or it's meaning did not. The title was inspired by Bean's experience handling their trauma.
When asked about the title, bean stated:
❝ I like Traumatic Livelihood because although I was dealing with a lot, I still didn't feel depressed. I still felt excited about life. You can be both sad and happy at the same time. There is no healing timeline. You can have a really big cry and still be happy and have the best day ever. The title reflects that. ❞ — Jazmin Bean
Composition
Writing
Bean has stated that while writing for the album, they felt more secure in the process than previously when writing for their initial debut album and Worldwide Torture. The album's main producer, Matt Schwartz, pushed Bean to make the songs better written, a notable example being "Shit Show", where Schwartz moved the initial chorus of the song to the verse, making Bean write a new chorus.
❝ My producer really pushed me with a lot of songs, to make them better. Normally that wouldn’t work, but it works with us. You would think having two stubborn people would cause conflict in the studio, but it really doesn’t. I used to be really stubborn, I wouldn’t even want producers’ input. I was such a control freak, had to have my vision exactly how I wanted it. I feel like that set me up for failure because there are probably so many things I never tried that would’ve worked great. ❞ — Jazmin Bean[2]
Production
While in the production phase of the album, Bean sought out to stick to one main collaborator, a contrast to what they had previously done for the initial album. This was in order to keep a consistent sound, which the scrapped record did not have.
At some point, Bean had a mashup of the initial and the revised album; however, they chose to scrap all of the songs they had written pre-rehab, on the basis of the newly recorded songs being better in quality. The revised record would use more strings and less electronics as was previously done with the initial album, to create a more 'powerful' sound.
Release and promotion
Bean hosted a Traumatic Livelihood listening party, announced via Instagram. A select group of fans attended a special event where they had the opportunity to hear the album early. Videos from the event were later shared on Bean's socials, including a clip featuring a snippet of "Bitch With The Gun".
On February 5, 2024, the track list was revealed through streaming services, likely prematurely as it was reversed just hours later.[3] Just days later, on February 9, Bean released an album trailer and an official track list reveal on their YouTube channel.[4] Traumatic Livelihood was officially released on February 23, 2024.
Singles
- For more information on the singles go to their respective pages linked below.
Several songs, including "Piggie", "Favourite Toy", "Terrified", and "You Know What You’ve Done", were released as singles in anticipation of the album. Traumatic Livelihood was officially announced during the release of "Terrified", with a pre-save link to the album happening at that time.
Piggie
Favourite Toy
Terrified
You Know What You’ve Done
It's not my fault (it's yours)
Scrapped deluxe
Bean first stated that there may be a deluxe version for their debut studio album, Traumatic Livelihood, via Twitter after stating they would stop being in the studio for awhile.[5] They also hinted at a deluxe edition in their discord server.[6] They later made a tweet confirming that the deluxe was coming[7], sharing a snippet of the song "Crocodile".
On June 19 2024, Bean stated on a TikTok live that the deluxe could be released in the form of an EP. They also talked the deluxe songs, explaining that they do not have the same rhythm, or 'feel', of the standard album tracks.
They were in the studio recording for the deluxe edition circa May to early July 2024. However, the deluxe edition did not come out, with Bean stating it was scrapped due to their label rejecting the idea. Multiple songs were written for this rejected concept, such as "Crocodile", "Dirty", and "Memories". Other songs originally cut from the standard edition were also inteded, such as "Disneyland Dad" an "Galvanised".
Exended Edition
Bean teased the possibility of an acoustic session for Traumatic Livelihood in a tweet, stating that while they were interested in the idea, they couldn't make any promises. This was likely a hint toward the upcoming release of the Strawberry House Sessions.
On August 3, 2024, Bean shared a video on TikTok featuring a snippet of the song "It's not my fault (it's yours)", and replied to a fan in the comments, confirming the track's release. On August 11, 2024, Bean performed "It's not my fault (it's yours)" live at Bludfest, where they also announced the song's official release date, February 16, 2024. It was subsequently released as the lead and only single from the extended edition.
From August 23 to 30 of 2024, Bean released multiple acoustic versions of songs taken from the Strawberry House Sessions on their YouTube channel. These acoustic renditions would later be included in the extended edition of Traumatic Livelihood.
The extended edition was officially announced on September 3, 2024, via Instagram, with the release date confirmed. Traumatic Livelihood (Extended Edition) was released on September 6, 2024.
Tours
- Main article: UK Instore Tour
On February 16, 2024, Bean announced a UK Instore Tour as promotion for the album, where they traveled across UK to perform acoustic versions of songs off the album.
- Main article: The Traumatic Livelihood World Tour
On May 20, 2024, Bean announced The Traumatic Livelihood World Tour as promotion for the album, with tickets for preorder available for the concert tickets, which officially went on sale on May 24, 2024. The tour had two legs, an American leg and a Europe leg.
Track listing
Scrapped Track list
Many track titles with numbers were written by Bean's friend, Brooks Ginnan, showing what may have been one of the first draft track lists for the album, including many songs from it's first iteration. Some other tracks were written to the side.[8][9]
- Tracks written off to the side: 1. No More Lucky Stars • 2. Black Dress • 3. Piggy (Piggie) • 4. Shit Show • 5. Favourite Toy • 6. Illegible (P...) • 7. Consume Me • 8. Illegible (...d) • 9. Illegible (...w?)
Outtakes
Bean has stated numerous times that they had recorded around fifty to one hundred songs for Traumatic Livelihood. Given this estimate, it can be assumed their are at least around thirty to eighty outtakes, excluding deluxe tracks. When asked about these outtakes, Bean stated in their Discord server:
❝ This album is outstanding and if something you wanted in it isn’t in it it’s for a valid reason . I’m only putting my best work in this album . As I’ve mentioned I have 50+ songs for this album so if there’s only 13 they are bound to be the best of the best . Some of my older work isn’t my best! ❞ — Jazmin Bean
- Addict
- Again
- Bleeding Wings
- Carnage [R]
- Consume Me
- Counting Violets
- C***
- Downhill
- Disneyland Dad
- Falling Feathers
- Flower
- Galvanised
- Growing Pains
- Little Jimmies
- Jaz
- No Good
- No More Lucky Stars
- Mechanical Machine
- Melancholic Disastrous World [I]
- Muck
- My Valentine
- Say It Soon
- Phantom [I]
- Puppy Pound [R]
- Silly Things
- Sock Puppet
- Vainglorious
Scrapped deluxe
- Crocodile
- Disneyland Dad
- Dirty
- Galvanized
- Memories
- Unknown light rock song
Speculated
- I'm Still Figuring it All Out if that's Okay
- The Lonely Hour
Trivia
- After rehabilitation, they attempted to create a “mashup” combining songs from the album’s first version with new tracks; however, the label disapproved for several reasons, including the lack of a cohesive genre.
References
- ↑ https://x.com/abortjazminbean/status/1705237699534155811?s=46&t=ZiMCl-vXNx5kIYPdQr96kQ
- ↑ https://1883magazine.com/jazmin-bean/
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Piggie-Explicit/dp/B0CKFDG9KP
- ↑ File:Jazmin Bean - Traumatic Livelihood Album Trailer + Tracklist reveal
- ↑ JBDEL.png
- ↑ JBDEL2.jpeg
- ↑ https://x.com/abortjazminbean/status/1789598128871440649
- ↑
- ↑ File:A Brooks TLH DRAFT.webp
- ↑ https://x.com/abortjazminbean/status/1705237699534155811?s=46&t=ZiMCl-vXNx5kIYPdQr96kQ
- ↑ https://1883magazine.com/jazmin-bean/
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Piggie-Explicit/dp/B0CKFDG9KP
- ↑ File:Jazmin Bean - Traumatic Livelihood Album Trailer + Tracklist reveal
- ↑ JBDEL.png
- ↑ JBDEL2.jpeg
- ↑ https://x.com/abortjazminbean/status/1789598128871440649
- ↑
- ↑ File:A Brooks TLH DRAFT.webp