queer music club

Who: Álex Anwandter – A Chilean singer-songwriter and filmmaker

Album: Latinoamericana

What’s it like: A throwback to 90s and 80s era dance club pop infused with plenty of plays on gender and political commentary.

Standouts: Locura, Vanidad, Axis Mundi, Odio a Todo el Mundo

Lyrics for your Instagram captions:

“Quiero pasar el tiempo

Con alguien que me aguante”

Axis Mundi

“No te da vergüenza

En qué te convertiste”

Malinche

“El mundo se va a la mierda

Y no he hecho nada”

Locura

“El mundo se va a la mierda

Y no sabes si te toca a ti”

Locura

“Tienes ritmo en el corazón

Pero te falta lo demás”

Locura

Where you’re most likely to hear it: NPR world music showcases

Why you should listen to it: You’ll come for the dance pop and stay for the political musings and social commentary. While the focus is on current events and popular culture in Latin American countries, there’s plenty of overlap with the state of our own country. There’s also plenty of takedowns of toxic masculinity, vanity, and gender roles.

Who: Sam Vance-Law

Album: Homotopia

What’s it like: A queer dreamscape that mixes indie rock with operatic ballads.

Standouts: Wanted To, Let’s Get Married, I Think We Should Take It Fast

Lyrics for your Instagram captions:

Please do not ask
Why I asked him to dance
I still cannot explain
But I think that it was just
Cause I wanted to

Wanted To

Yeah I saw you in the club
And I knew that I loved you

Let’s Get Married

All the straight boys want him
And all the pretty girls wanna look just like him
Cause he’s fine

Prettyboy

Where you’re most likely to hear it: Your hipster hook-up’s Spotify playlists, a Berlin coffee haus

Why you should listen to it: The album features beautiful vignettes of queer lives that are often ignored by mainstream pop and have yet to be commercialized for mass audiences. Settling into relationships, coming out in middle age, relationships with inappropriate age gaps are all explored to the soundtrack of swooning orchestral arrangements and lo-fi indie rock.

Who: Kim Petras

What’s it like: Sticky sweet bubblegum pop sometimes edgy but always in a youthful haze.

Standouts: Heart to Break, Hills, Hillside Boys

Lyrics for your Instagram captions:

I want all my clothes designer

I want someone else to buy them

I Don’t Want It At All

If you buy me diamonds

And you keep me smiling

Baby, I can be with you

I Don’t Want It At All

Hillside boys you call my name

You make my heart sparkle like champagne

Hillside Boys

All my exes want attention, I ain’t payin’ it

Hills

Where you’re most likely to hear it:  Slumber parties, Forever 21, gay beach parties

Why you should listen to it: Aside from being good fun, Kim is a trans artist who’s ready for mainstream pop listeners. If you’re on the wrong side of 25, you might feel a little old, but a few bops in and you’ll forget all about the age difference.

Here’s Kim Petras covering the Killers’ Human at SXSW 2018:

Who: TWINKIDS – A queerpop duo from LA.

Album: Boys Love

What’s it like: The duo’s debut EP features pop songs sticky with synths and vulnerable lyrics revealing a longing to be loved.

Standouts: Overdressed, Body Wonder, Love Story Wa Totsuzenni

Lyrics for your Instagram captions:

“Fell in love and it comes with a price
All your loving, it distracts me”

– Overdressed

“You leave me with a smile on your face
You’re dressed up for me
Always talking me to stay”
– Overdressed

“Feeling winter in my summer skin”

– Dreamer

Where you’re most likely to hear it: NPR, on the soundtrack of an art house film, Urban Outfitters

Why you should listen to it: It’s pure and poetic pop music with a queer sensibility. While the EP’s themes reflect a coming-of-age moment, everyone can surely connect with the reflections on queer romance from longing to lust.