Openly LGBTQ+ artists are releasing tons of great music, now more than ever. To help you with this extremely good problem to have, them. is selecting the best songs released by queer musicians on every New Music Friday. This week, we’re highlighting tracks by Halsey, Remi Wolf, Macy Rodman, Edge Slayer, Water From Your Eyes, Orla Gartland, MAY-A, Tenderheart Bitches, Madi Diaz, and Guard. Scroll down below to see our regularly updated playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, and see earlier music roundups here.
Halsey: “I am not a woman I'm a god”
Back in 2015, a 20-year-old Halsey described herself as an “in-between role model” for misfits and an “inconvenient woman” in an interview for Elle. Months before they skyrocketed to fame for their breakout debut EP, Badlands, the alternative pop singer already didn’t seem comfortable sticking to strict labels or expectations based on her presumed gender.
Since then, these nascent feelings have seemed to come into focus. Earlier this year, Halsey opened up about changing their pronouns to “she/they,” and spoke about how her first pregnancy had “leveled [her] perception of gender entirely.” Now a mother, the singer takes a bold step into the next era of their life with their fourth album, If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power, produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. On the blistering project, which incorporates industrial electronics with elements of pop-punk and folk, Halsey refuses to bow to anyone’s wishes, even as she struggles for control — in both her relationship to herself and the way that she’s perceived.
This thesis comes into focus on “I am not a woman I'm a god,” in which Halsey clearly delineates what roles she’s not willing to play. “I am not a martyr, I’m a problem / I am not a legend, I’m a fraud,” they sing over a determined electro-pop beat. In the same breath as she aligns herself with the divine, she tears herself down again, embracing any and all potential contradictions. Halsey rejects womanhood, saviorship, and everything else that doesn’t fit into the vision of their vast, expansive self. It’s thrilling. — Michelle Kim
Macy Rodman: “Punk Rock Boyfriend” [ft. Shamir]
Brooklyn singer-songwriter and nightlife legend Macy Rodman is known for her irreverent, hybridized pop music packed with sharp hooks and raw lyricism. She further hones this signature style on her third album, Unbelievable Animals, out today on Shamir’s Accidental Popstar Records imprint. Standout track “Punk Rock Boyfriend,” which features Shamir on backing vocals, is replete with summer-y melodies, as Rodman fantasizes about a partner who will feed her thrill-seeking tendencies. “I don’t want to miss it / I don’t want to wake up from this high,” she sings, conjuring a feeling of ecstasy and freedom. Later in the bridge, the singer name-checks a string of punk artists, from The Stooges and Bad Brains to Mindless Self-Indulgence. Although she’s lusting after a musician boyfriend, Rodman is an icon in her own right. — Michael Love Michael
Remi Wolf: “Grumpy Old Man”
Remi Wolf, the Los Angeles-based musician known for her feel-good and offbeat indie pop, has announced that her debut album, Juno, will arrive October 15 via Island. Along with the news, she dropped the new single, “Grumpy Old Man,” a song about feeling like a jaded old person even as a 20-something. “I'm so defensive I got egg shells on my doorstep and I don't give second chances easily,” Wolf confesses, on top of thrumming bass and danceable bongos, before turning her generational anxiety into a wholesome anthem. “I got that long hair, long beard, turtleneck sweater,” she sings goofily. The accompanying music video, wherein the artist and an older man dance in front of meme-y, psychedelic backgrounds while wearing almost identical outfits, adds to the tongue-in-cheek nature of it all. With her flair for the eccentric, Wolf can turn even the grumpiest of frowns upside down. — Mary Retta
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Edge Slayer: “Waves”
Zarina Crockett, better known as the electronic musician Edge Slayer, broke out from the New Orleans club underground last year with COOCHI3, a witchy, experimental collection released on Interference Pattern, the label owned by Tyler Pope of LCD Soundsystem.
Now, the newly Atlanta-based musician hits us with “Waves,” the lead single from her forthcoming album, TSUREENA, which does not yet have a release date. The Leonce-produced banger is an ethereal dark-pop gem, stacked with minor-key Aaliyah-esque vocal melodies, menacing synths, and a percussive, voguing beat to ground the affair. Grounding the track are Crockett’s frank lyrics, which affirm her desires plainly: “I’m not looking for no situationship / I only text you back for the good dick,” she sings, before erupting into a truly memorable bridge. “Eat my fucking ass,” she leers. Playful, yet brooding, “Waves” captures all the intriguing sides that Edge Slayer is able to show. — MLM
Water From Your Eyes: ““Quotations””
Water From Your Eyes, a New York-based duo who have built a local following for their curious blend of dance music and indie rock, share their new album, Structure, today on Wharf Cat. For the project’s closing track, ““Quotations,”” the band opens up a time capsule and invites the listener to bring their own memories. The song is built on a loop of brightly plucked strings and incomprehensible, lilting vocals, giving it a meditative, comforting feeling that resembles a nursery rhyme. “Myths of memories in the sounds,” singer Rachel Brown sighs, as if giving you permission to hear what you want in the wordless harmonies and let your mind wander. As the mythical track comes to a crashing end, there’s a sense that Water From Your Eyes has just finished casting a spell on you — one that might feel different with every subsequent listen. — MR
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Orla Gartland: “Things That I’ve Learned”
This week, Orla Gartland, a Dublin-based singer-songwriter who rose to fame singing covers on YouTube, releases her debut album, Woman on the Internet. With the LP’s opening track, “Things That I’ve learned,” the artist makes it clear that she’s grown considerably since the start of her career nearly a decade ago. Throughout the song, Gartland lists out personal proverbs like, “Never buy the jeans that you've never seen,” and, “Take up all the space even when you think you don't deserve it,” over a precarious rhythm of clinking electronics and plucky guitar. “These are the things that I’ve learned,” she sings firmly in the chorus, as if she’s charting a manifesto. By the end, she screams her way into a rocking guitar solo, celebrating her hard-earned wisdom that could only come from experience. “There's no manual,” she smirks, “and if there is, I haven't read it.” — Emma Carey
MAY-A: “Daffodils”
Earlier this month, Australian singer-songwriter MAY-A released Don’t Kiss Your Friends, her poignant debut EP about first loves, breakups, and coming into one’s queerness. Project standout, “Daffodils,” which received a new technicolor music video this week, is gut-wrenchingly self-aware. Throughout, MAY-A convinces herself that perhaps being alone is the safest way to protect herself and the ones she loves. “Don't lean on me,” she sings with precise desolation. This self-destruction isn’t without regret though, as the artist later yearns in comic self-deprecation, “Who would've thought/That pushing everyone away wouldn't make 'em wanna stay?” The new visual, featuring its pop colors that resemble lomography film, comes across as almost ironic; the brightness of the tones contrast with MAY-A’s melancholy, when she realizes that she needs to let go. — Ashley Wolfgang
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Tenderheart Bitches: “Pieces”
High Kicks, the new EP from the Brooklyn-based indie rock band Tenderheart Bitches, is arriving this fall. Its lead single, “Pieces,” is a self-described “body liberation bop” that’s as relatable as it is refreshing. Over a fuzzy guitar riff and uptempo drums, frontperson JL Marlor sings candidly about their struggles with body image. “I’m carving my hips down to lock into yours / Carving my hips down to be just like yours,” they sing in the pre-chorus. In the next choruses, they use clever wordplay to represent the dissonance that comes with trying to embrace themself while still grappling with body dysmorphia. “I’m still picking up the pieces / Picking apart my pieces,” they sing. As frustrating as the road to self-acceptance may be, Marlor seems hopeful. When the song lets loose into a frenzy of guitar and drums, they let go and trust their nonlinear path ahead: “Some day, I’ll hold the pieces.” — EC
Madi Diaz: “Think of Me”
When Madi Diaz’s former partner came out as a transgender woman, the Nashville-based songwriter admitted in a press statement that she “lost [herself] in someone else’s story.” In the wake of their breakup, Diaz spent several years whittling more than 100 songs down to the 11 tracks that eventually became History of a Feeling. Her new album, a complex collection of angsty folk-rock that explores identity, sexuality, and self-loathing, is out today on ANTI-.
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On “Think of Me,” Diaz reworks a 2019 song she wrote with Vérité, originally meant for the Brooklyn alt-pop singer. For her reclaimed version, Diaz trades her collaborator’s tongue-in-cheek delivery and dreamy R&B production for more earthy, organic instrumentation, courtesy of Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo. She indulges in the bitterness of a line like “I hope you fuck her with the lights off and think of me,” but for the final minute of the song, her delivery of the title turns increasingly tender. “Think of Me” is much of an honest, desperate plea as it is an acerbic kiss-off. — Hannah Jocelyn
Guard: “Lie Low”
Like many other millennials who grew up on the internet, Guard has a brilliant way of disguising trauma with humor. The Melbourne-based conceptual pop singer moonlights as a graphic designer and Instagram meme artist under the handle @mymoistmemes, where he pokes fun at everything from his own appearance to politics and pop culture. On his 2020 debut album, The Identified Patient, Guard masked melancholy relationship drama with punchy beats and melodies, but his new single “Lie Low” exposes a rawer nerve. The track features just acoustic guitar, a distant 808, and the artist’s tear-stained vocals, as he sings wistfully about a bygone love that he experienced on the West Coast, before moving back home to Australia. “Getting high hopes in the valley, we could smoke up a little of the time we lost,” he sings, full of sorrowful resolve, yet determined to trudge ahead. — MLM
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