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Apr 24, 2025 By Caleb Campbell Photography by SJ Spreng

BEL is the moniker of LA-based indie pop singer/songwriter Isabel Whelan. As BEL, she has spent the last few years crafting sleek and lyrical indie pop laced with gauzy production and subtly catchy hooks. The results draw from classic folk singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell or Stevie Nicks alongside dreamy indie touchstones like Mazzy Star. BEL debuted with her 2021 EP, Muscle Memory, followed by 2022’s Jet Lag EP, and 2023’s Read the Room EP. Most recently, BEL signed with Nettwerk and is back ahead of her upcoming spring tour with a new single, “Fresh Start,” premiering with Under the Radar.

Unsurprisingly, “Fresh Start” is all about new beginnings. The track acts as a reintroduction to BEL’s music, immersing her breathy vocal stylings in a pool of fuzzy guitar lines and breezy grooves. Woozy synths and plinking keys flicker away underneath BEL’s melodies, burnishing the track with an airy sheen, even as the percussion drives it resolutely forward. These gentle instrumental contrasts and simmering springtime warmth lend BEL’s songwriting an easygoing charm, mirroring the hopeful bent of the lyrics. The song follows as BEL navigates a difficult period of change, leaning into her friendships for support: “Just when I thought I would be stuck / You bring me flowers / Pull me out of the rut / I never knew that I’d see the light / But you come around / With the silver lining / Didn’t even think that it’d be this hard / I know I’ve been due for a fresh start.”

BEL says of the track, “I wrote it when I was moving out of the apartment I had been living in for three years. I had so many memories attached to it, and I lived within 5 minutes of my best friends. I was about to move to a part of town further away from everything. I was really emotional about it, but my friends knew just how to cheer me up and show me the bright side of it. It’s a song of gratitude for the deep friendships in my life and acknowledging that change can be both painful and beautiful.”

Check out the song and lyric video below, along with BEL’s upcoming tour dates, and stream the track here. “Fresh Start” is out everywhere on April 25th via Nettwerk.

Tour Dates:

*Supporting Miya Folick

5/9 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar*

5/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater*

5/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court*

5/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord

5/25 – Napa, CA @ BottleRock Napa Valley

9/26 – Ocean City, MD @ Oceans Calling Festival