Queer Music News is a smattering of what’s going on in music by LGBTQ artists and the artists we love. Here’s a wrap-up of music we’ve received in recent days for your new Monday Mixtape.
Rachael Sage dropped the new single, “Belong To You”
Last Friday, bisexual folk-pop singer-songwriter Rachael Sage and her longtime band The Sequins released the new single “Belong To You” from the upcoming studio album Canopy, out Oct. 24 via MPress Records. The new single touches on friendship that merges pop, gospel, and Americana into a uniquely meaningful moment that celebrates love in all forms.
“I wrote ‘Belong To You’ as a gospel ballad and it was really meaningful that so many of The Sequins ended up singing on it, versus just me singing all the harmonies myself,” Sage said on the single’s announcement. “The devotion and loyalty of our friendships expressed in the lyrics is something I know we all genuinely feel for one another, and in that sense it’s a very emotional song for me to sing. It’s probably the most universal song on the record and it’s been really gratifying to have live listeners at shows come up and share their own interpretations of it.”
Listen to “Belong To You,” below:
Queer pop singer Benjamin Elgar debuts with Make It Through the Night
Los Angeles-based singer Benjamin Elgar’s debut album, Make It Through The Night, is out now with songs written by Elgar and produced by The Last Artful, Dodgr and John Ho (Chloë, Demi Lovato), Make It Through The Night channels Elgar’s passion for pop that feels expansive and purposeful. Across ten tracks, Elgar weaves together the story of a turbulent relationship—its highs, its lows, and the lessons learned from its every nook and cranny.
“When I started understanding the magic behind the art itself, I saw how it can inspire not only me, the person making it, but the people listening to it, too,” Benjamin said about the album in a press release. “I have always been so passionate about the creation, but now I’m finding in sharing these songs that I’m just as excited about the impact they’re able to make.”
Listen to the album’s lead single “Hoe” with Bhad Bhabie below:
Craft Recordings celebrates Sylvester with its reissue of Step II.
Craft Recordings announced the upcoming release of its two special reissues of his 1978 disco sensation, Step II by singer, songwriter and queer icon Sylvester. The long-out-of-print album will come in Disco Ball Clear Glitter vinyl featuring the classics “Dance (Disco Heat)” and the anthem “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).” A bonus-filled Deluxe Edition (CD/digital) adds seven classic and new remixes of the above-mentioned tracks, including Tonic Funk’s never-before-heard “Space Funk” Club Mix of “Dance (Disco Heat)” plus Bright Light Bright Light’s fresh take on “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”—the latter of which is available to stream today . The CD version also offers new liner notes from Joshua Gamson, author of The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco.
On being enlisted to put his own spin on a timeless disco classic, Rod Thomas—known collectively as Bright Light Bright Light—remarked: “It is the honor of a lifetime to get to remix Sylvester. Hearing the stems is like hearing history itself unravel for you.”
Thomas expanded, “I listen to Sylvester’s catalogue constantly—every album is a gem—and the original of ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ is a staple in my DJ sets that never misses. To be part of his legacy is a privilege I never imagined having.”
All formats of the reissues will be available Oct. 10 but are available to pre-order now.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise announces new album
Rainbow Kitten Surprise just announced its new album as the band is currently on the road for its Thanks for Coming Tour. Trans frontwoman Ela Melo’s songwriting and production by Jay Joyce have worked together to release the band’s new album bones, out on Sept. 28 from Atlantic Records. The album will journey through love, loss, and perseverance across its ten tracks.
“This record is the raw unfiltered sound of Rainbow Kitten Surprise doing what we love to do. We called it bones because we were clearing skeletons out of our closet. These were both musical and interpersonal dynamics that we had to release before we could make this record what it is,” Melo said in the press release.
Boys Don’t Fight drops the single “Bolero”
Boys Don’t Fight — AKA Chris Giarmo — released the second single from the eponymous debut album, out on October 17. BDF is the latest project from Giarmo – a New Orleans-based, multidisciplinary artist, and the “mustachio’d standout” of David Byrne’s American Utopia (Slate). You may also know him as YouTube queen Kimberly Clark, an anti-consumerist drag performer and beauty guru who popularized the “anti-haul” video, and recently published her self-help video series, “How to Stop Shopping in Five Easy Steps.”
Watch the backyard video for “Bolero” below:
–Rich Lopez