BEKA opens her Apple Music Home Session with a stripped-back cover of pop anthem “Don’t Call Me a Friend”—a decision inspired by her grandparents’ against-all-odds love story. “They met at a time when interracial relationships faced a lot of negativity,” she says. “But they got married, moved to the tropics and had four babies—before setting up a health care service on the island, culminating in a knighthood for them both recently.” In 2020, throughout the struggles and isolation of lockdown, the Nottingham singer-songwriter eventually found her voice. After touring as a vocalist with UK electronic duo HONNE, the time for pause gave way for solo material to manifest—in the shape of her debut EP (which features HONNE) I’ll Be There—a bright mix of life-affirming pop and warm declarations of love. In this vein, a rousing cover of Coldplay’s “Higher Power” completes a double serving of music that calls on the warm fuzzies. “I’m mad for songs that give me an inch of hope,” BEKA says of the 2021 single. “This gives me that full fire—and singing it takes me that bit closer to pretending I wrote it.”