Pass The Aux: Pride Month Edition
This June, we're shedding light on incredible tunes from queer women and gender-expansive artists we love. Happy Pride!
dirty dancer - Orion Sun
We've talked before on this blog about how much we love Orion Sun, but this song from the New Jersey-based artist just simply slaps. It's the summer slow jam we didn't know we needed. She sings, "You got me...waiting at the crosswalk thinking of you" with lush and nostalgic piano dancing around a wandering bass line as the song's edenic sonic backdrop. It's all butter and honey with this gorgeous track.
Leave It On The Dancefloor - Hope Tala
It's Pride Weekend, and this is the perfect song for a dance floor playlist, or to bop at your bestie's birthday party. UK-based Hope Tala has proven herself to be a skilled lyricist, arranger, and singer, and her smooth, bossa nova-inspired musicality shines in this tight, clean disco song for the summer. Catch her love letter to the LGBTQ+ community on billboard, where she speaks beautifully of queer folks' capacity to "be endlessly varied, containing every kind of multitude." @hopetala
Boyhood - The Japanese House
This song is The Japanese House at her peak. Introspective lyricism about her identity, her youth. Ambiguous wordplay, exploring the grey areas and in-betweens of gender and love. Glimmering guitar layers, and intricate percussion arrangements. The music video features singer Amber Bain and another riding bareback on a horse. It's about when she and her "best friend Katie...were young and in love and dreamed of riding off into the distance on her horse". Horse girls, this one is for you.
Caught in a Lie - Alec Gaston
'Caught in a Lie' stands out on the already beautiful debut album from Queens-based artist Alec Gaston. It opens with a Radiohead-esque acoustic guitar loop, affected vocals and a twinkling piano flitting in your ear, then a catchy early 2000s drum loop, and her honest melody atop. Congratulations to Alec on this new album, which, in her words, represents "a commitment to myself to transition... hearing myself for the first time". Read our full feature on "Evolve of Dissolve, pt. 1".
YOU'RE THE ONE - SYD, KAYTRANADA
A bit of a throwback, "YOU'RE THE ONE" off Kaytranada's 99.9% is an oldie but a goodie. Syd, from legendary Los Angeles group "The Internet", graces this high energy track with her calm and cool vocals atop. Thank you, Syd, for the music you've given over the many years. You can catch her most recent solo album, Broken Hearts Club, here.
Listen to and follow our Spotify Playlist to hear all these songs, plus other amazing LGBTQ+ artists.
Written by Nan Macmillan