Newly out frontman Tyler Glenn leads band Neon Trees with fresh panache
FOREST FOR THE TREES | Newly out frontman Tyler Glenn, center right, will lead Neon Trees on a concert Monday at the House of Blues that also features Smallpools and Nightmare & the Cat.
Springtime is always a season of new life, whether you’re talking pastel flowers or Neon Trees.
One of the hottest bands out there, Neon Trees’ season has been one of starting anew, especially for lead singer and keyboardist Tyler Glenn. He recently turned 30, the band released its third studio album and he came out as gay in the April issue of Rolling Stone. That’s a lot of blossoming in such a short time, especially the decision to come out.
“I wanted to make some changes. I wanted to be happier. I didn’t want to carry some of that weight into [my] new decade,” Glenn says.
Still, the announcement couldn’t exactly be characterized as much of a surprise. With his glam-drogynous looks and the queer friendly lyrics of Neon Trees, Glenn’s revelation was greeted with more ho-humness than, say, Michael Sam around the same time. But it proves that the closet is still a very real place for adult men, despite breakthroughs in LGBT rights and visibility.
“I never was great at hiding it, but I did have a fear of giving all my cards away,” he says. “I’ve always been very good at compartmentalizing, especially the deeply sad parts. And then the band took off, so I patterned myself after those ambiguous figures like Bowie and Jagger.”
And there’s the Mormon thing, too. But instead of turning away from his religion — which, he notes, is so famously unaccepting that 40 percent of queer Mormon youth are kicked out of their homes — he still embraces it.
“I haven’t thrown that out. I still feel this space and have this belief, and so I’m not quick to throw away that part of me,” Glenn says. “There were risks going into coming out, but it’s still great progress.”
That shows in Neon Trees’ latest release, Pop Psychology, with songs like “Teenager in Love” and “Love in the 21st Century,” which basically feels like an anthem for hookup apps. Glenn wrote while going through therapy, and breakthroughs are reflected in the free-flowing confident sound of the album.
“Now that this is all out, I can write what I know. I have this confidence to talk about things in my life I wasn’t able to before and not do any of our music an injustice,” he says.
Being out, Glenn jokes that he’s now a well-adjusted rock singer. More so, he feels a genuine connection to his audiences. He likes that they get the nuances of his lyrics.
But this time out, they did go huge.
“Well, first, our show is really colorful and the biggest show we’ve ever done. It’s spectacular and colorful and so much fun. That’s what can our fans can expect.” And Dallas fans can experience themselves when Neon Trees performs at The House of Blues on June 1.
Still, writing what Glenn knows doesn’t mean one thing.
“I would hate to put out a religious album just because,” he laughs. “But I can wonder about new music differently now, and there are even songs about a guy I was in love with. And I love this record for that lightness and happiness. It’s a celebratory one.”
Upon coming out, Glenn could easily have gotten tired of talking about only that instead of the new album or the tour. But he’s pragmatic about it. His story isn’t just about him, it’s about others in the closet in these modern times.
“I’m happy to talk about it, and it’s so interesting if it could help someone, but also, there’s a time and place for it,” he says. “As much as it was a headline, I don’t see it as gossip, but I hope that people respect that time and place for me, or for anyone else.”
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Review: ‘Pop Psychology’
Musicians can be funny about their sexuality defining their music, but on Neon Trees’ latest, the gayness of out-and-proud frontman Tyler Glenn is embedded into every Technicolor beat of the band’s cool synth-pop. Coming of age with shamelessly sex-focused ideas, Pop Psychology — the Mormon band’s third release — is practically a rite of passage. But because it’s a nonstop rush of New Wave, it goes deeper than its superficial shell … a shell that’s radio-accessible but also a monotonous drone of instantly gratifying beats muddled into one big blur.
Uniform to a fault, the disc is front-loaded with a tiring parade of disposable bubblegum party pop: “Love in the 21st Century,” a sly observation on modern-day yearning; “Sleeping with a Friend,” the first single; and “I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends),” where Glenn celebrates your blatant sexuality. As a reflection of contemporary relationships and sexual exploration, and writing-wise, Pop Psychology is an engrossing project, making the album all the more frustrating. During the back half, there’s promise in a duet with his bandmate, Elaine Bradley, on “Unavoidable,” and with a synth loop reminiscent of Alphaville’s “Forever Young” on “Voices in the Hall.” The rest should be as solid, but it’s just not. Instead, Neon Trees’ latest leaves you with a bunch of coulda-beens.
— Chris Azzopardi
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 30, 2014.