Photo credit: Ashley Crichton
Deadbeat Girl (they/them) unveil their brand new EP Self Destructor — a six-track, indie-leaning release that cements Val Olson as one of the most emotionally resonant and fearlessly honest voices in alternative music right now. With four previously unreleased tracks, the EP is a raw excavation of self-destruction, yearning, identity, and growth, wrapped in slick melodies, purring guitars, and unfiltered introspection.
Across Self Destructor, Val leans fully into vulnerability, using songwriting as both mirror and release. The EP moves through love, life, gender, and internal conflict with a striking sense of clarity — never shying away from discomfort, but instead learning to sit with it.
“I believe this EP is for yearners, those who feel insecure, and those who are constantly fighting a battle in their head,” Val shares. “I’ve learned a lot about myself through writing this EP and I have also grown an appreciation as well as an acceptance for the ugly parts of myself in the process.”
That sentiment pulses through the entire project, from its hushed moments to its most anthemic peaks.
The title track, “Self Destructor,” stands out as a gorgeous punk-pop-infused indie anthem. Born from the unsettling comfort that can come with familiar depression, the song confronts the tendency to romanticize pain — and gently challenges it. Val describes how prolonged chaos can become a warped safe space, a feeling many listeners will recognize immediately. Rather than glorifying despair, “Self Destructor” pushes toward light, marking a quiet but powerful shift from survival to self-awareness.
The EP follows October’s single “Soft,” a track that proudly reclaimed sensitivity and rejected the toxic judgments often placed on masculine-presenting people. Warmly received by outlets like DIY and tmrw magazine, “Soft” set the emotional foundation for Self Destructor, signaling a new era rooted in openness rather than armor.
One of the EP’s most affecting moments arrives with “Gentle, Hazy,” a previously unreleased track that explores Val’s journey with gender through dreamlike vocals and deeply honest lyricism. Written from the perspective of a transmasc/nonbinary artist navigating gender envy and aspiration, the song captures the quiet longing to embody a softness-infused masculinity that feels both grounded and effortless.
“I often feel gender envy toward people, especially some men who move through the world with an effortless blend of softness and grounded masculinity,” Val explains. “This song isn’t about those men themselves, but about my own desire to embody that same gentle kind of confidence.”
It’s a moment of rare intimacy — thoughtful, reflective, and profoundly human.
Growing up as a queer Hispanic kid in South Florida, Val became the representation they once searched for. That lived experience fuels Deadbeat Girl’s unapologetic authenticity, both on record and on stage. Their music promotes unconditional inclusion, and their live shows are known for creating genuine connection — spaces where fans feel seen, understood, and less alone.
Since launching the project in 2022, Deadbeat Girl’s sound has steadily evolved, rejecting genre rigidity in favor of emotional truth. Drawing inspiration from ‘90s and early 2000s icons like Nirvana, Death Cab for Cutie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Pearl Jam, alongside modern voices such as girl in red and Day Wave, Val crafts a version of alternative music that feels both nostalgic and urgently current.
Following their 2023 debut EP What Will It Take?, which resonated deeply for its portrayal of self-acceptance and discovery, Deadbeat Girl’s momentum has only grown. With streams approaching 10 million on Spotify, praise from Atwood Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH, Wonderland, Ones To Watch, and more — plus comparisons to The Cranberries and Garbage — it’s clear this is an artist in the midst of something special.
With an impressive world tour already completed supporting Ari Abdul, and more live moments ahead, Self Destructor feels like both a reckoning and a breakthrough. Honest, defiant, and tender in equal measure, Deadbeat Girl aren’t just documenting the mess — they’re transforming it into connection.
“Self Destructor” feels like an intimate deep dive into the messier parts of the self. What moment or realization sparked the need to create an EP centered around self-destruction and self-acceptance?
In the years leading up to creating the project, I was experiencing a weird wave of depression where I was almost finding comfort in the chaos. I became very aware of my self-destructive behaviors and began writing about it. I actually had been listening to the album “Punisher” by Phoebe Bridgers and I loved that album title. In 2023, soon after releasing my first EP, I came up with the title “Self-Destructor” inspired by the title and at first the project had an entirely different vibe but then I scrapped everything and didn’t return to it for a while. I then began to create this new batch of music in the last year or so that felt more like myself and decided to go back to the title. I felt the core of the music still resonated with the title, but I was able to convey my feelings in a much clearer and stronger way with the second go-around.
You’ve said this project is for the “yearners, the insecure, and those constantly battling in their heads.” How did writing these songs reshape the way you see your own inner struggles?
One of the many reasons I love to write music is because I subconsciously work through and process my emotions as I create. In writing the songs and hearing them back, I begin to almost understand myself better. When I put music out into the world, I feel like it is my way of letting go of some of these hard feelings and getting them off of my chest. In doing that I also realize that as listeners resonate with the music, I am not alone in how I feel.
The title track touches on the unsettling comfort that can come from familiar depressive feelings. How do you personally navigate that tension between nostalgia for chaos and the desire to grow beyond it?
I think that it’s okay to have nostalgic moments when creating art related to that chaos, absorbing others’ pieces of art that also exist in that realm, and processing trauma overall but I have learned it is good to compartmentalize. I will always be someone that feels very deeply and perpetually reminisces but I have found ways to prioritize my mental health. Going out of my comfort zone to focus on being happy actually feels much better than existing in a dark place and I am pushing myself to do more of that while also accepting the darker parts of myself.
“Gentle, Hazy” offers a beautifully honest look at your gender journey. What made this the right moment to explore your experience as a transmasc/nonbinary person so explicitly in your music?
My music has always been surrounded around my experiences as a queer person, but there has definitely been an evolution in the pressing topics in my experience. When I first made music I was closeted and wanting to break free to live my truth. The music was primarily about seeking acceptance from the people around me regarding my sexuality and the difficult queer relationships I had while closeted. Now that the years have gone on and I have gotten over that initial hump, I have realized the lingering struggle now is my gender. It is such a massive daily struggle of mine to try to love myself and my body but I hadn’t written about it because I couldn’t find a way to articulate my feelings without sounding too “corny” for lack of a better word. I wrote Gentle, Hazy when I felt most equipped to talk about it and it went over quite well in my opinion haha.
Sensitivity and masculinity are such powerful themes across this project. How has your relationship with masculinity evolved while creating Self Destructor?
I will say my new sound does feel a bit more gritty and “masculine” in my opinion, so the process was actually quite affirming. In being able to embrace my masculinity and softer side at the same time, I have grown a lot more acceptance for my gender expression.
Your sound pulls from so many influences—Nirvana, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Death Cab, Girl In Red, Day Wave, and more. What sonic or emotional thread ties all these inspirations together for you?
I love the way all of these artists articulate their feelings in such an honest yet artistic way. One thing that all these artists have in common is that you can both cry and dance to their music which I really like. You can take a lot of different things away from the listening experience and I aim to give that experience to my listeners.
Growing up as a queer Hispanic kid in South Florida clearly shaped your desire to create representation. How does that part of your identity continue to fuel the stories you tell now?
Representation is absolutely everything and it is the reason why I felt comfortable enough to create and release my music in the first place. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the hispanic and queer artists who came before me. Growing up queer and hispanic in South Florida meant constantly searching for myself in places that didn’t always make room for me, especially creating music in a white/cis dominated genre. Additionally, coming out as a queer person in a hispanic family of immigrants is a unique experience in itself for a lot of people like me, so the stories I tell in my writing wouldn’t be those stories if not for my identity and family history. I’m always trying to tell stories that make space for the kids like myself, stories that feel warm, loud, unapologetic, and alive in the way my identity always has been, even when I didn’t have the words for it.
With nearly 10 million streams and a rapidly growing fanbase, listeners are clearly connecting to your vulnerability. What’s the most meaningful thing someone has shared with you about your music?
I love how music can serve as a time capsule for certain experiences/times in your life. My favorite thing is when I hear a song and I can connect an exact memory to it. On a deeper level, I also love when a song reminds you of a time where things were hard and the song pulled you out of it. My favorite thing is when I will receive a message saying that my music helped them through a really rough time in their lives. I have been such a big fan of music my entire life and music from my favorite artists has saved me in many ways, so to hear that I can do that for others is insane to me.
You’ve toured the world supporting Ari Abdul and others. How did being on the road influence the energy and vision behind this new EP?
I have become obsessed with performing because I get to really feel the music and interact with my listeners in real time. In writing these songs, I imagined how they would sound live and how listeners would absorb them much more than before I started touring.
Self Destructor feels like a bold new chapter for Deadbeat Girl. What parts of yourself—or your artistry—do you feel you’re stepping into for the first time?
I feel like I am finally settling into my sound. I felt a bit lost when I first got started with my artist project, trying so many different things, but this is the first batch of songs that feel entirely like me. I feel like I am delivering what I am trying to convey in the best way I can and, on a personal level, I feel a new level of confidence. If the music feels good, I feel good too!
