Celebrating Pride Month: LGBTQ+ essential listening

In celebration of Pride Month and following the supreme court ruling which excludes trans women from the legal definition of a woman, it is more important than ever to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. The mainstream has seen a rise in LGBTQ+ artists in recent years; notably, Chappel Roan and Doechii are two queer artists who won awards at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. This piece, however, will focus on some underrated LGBTQ+ artists that need to be on your radar. 
 
Momma – ‘How to Breathe’ 
Debuting in 2018, with their album Interloper, Momma are an American indie rock band currently consisting of Etta Friedman, Allegra Weingarten, Aron Kobayashi Ritch and Preston Fulks. In 2024, Momma supported Beabadoobee on the UK leg of the This is How Tomorrow Moves Tour, and in April they finally released their fourth album Welcome to My Blue Sky. They are best known for the third single from Household Name released in 2022, ‘Speeding 72’, which blends grunge and alternative rock and manifests into a feeling reminiscent of long drives on summer nights. In Welcome to My Blue Sky, the band engaged with increased vulnerability explicitly singing about lesbian love on ‘How to Breathe’. As discussed by Friedman with Them, “that song is about my relationship with my girlfriend”, and with Consequence they expanded that “this song was written as an expression of gratitude towards my relationship for making me feel safe”. It centres on the empowering experience of queer love, portraying cherishment and feelings of affection as able to overcome the anxieties around coming out. 
 
Déyyess – Claire  
An emerging artist hailing from Canterbury, Déyyess is an indie-pop singer-songwriter who excels in her authenticity. They grew in popularity following the release of ‘Claire’ and more recently with ‘love u (from afar)’. These both feature on debut EP Claire which, alongside tracks ‘if i was ur boy’ and ‘every time’, centres around the feelings of longing and yearning for a crush of the same gender identity. Soft strums of guitar strings provide a beautiful backdrop for the devastating emotional journeys of these songs. While consistent in theme, all four tracks highlight different elements of this experience. The titular track ‘Claire’ focuses on the imbalance of feelings as she sings “you just go round in my head / And I feel like you don’t even care”, while ‘if i was ur boy’ has a similar meaning to Chappel Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’. The third song, ‘love u (from afar)’, details the process of waiting for someone who reciprocates your feelings but seemingly can’t accept the fact that they are attracted to someone of the same gender. The conclusive track ‘every time’ feels more retrospective, layered with confusion as Déyyess repeats “But why’d you do it to me, darling?”. 
 
Jane Remover – Revengeseekerz 
As a writer, vocalist, and producer — Jane Remover is a formidably talented creative. Coming out in 2022, Remover is a trans woman. More interesting than that is how they seamlessly transition through a diverse range of genres. They grew in popularity following the release of Frailty in 2021, which as a stand-alone project already demonstrates the diversity of genres in which Remover experiments with by blending indie rock with glitchpop. In 2023, following their transition, on Census Designated they stayed true to their prior sound, building on elements of shoegaze with more expressive vocals. In their most recent album Revengeseekerz, they’ve once again reinvented their sound, as Remover stated with Paper, “half of this album is EDM” and “closer to Frailty” as they return to their digicore roots. The tracks are overloaded with distortion and effects for a maximalist impact. Notably, the album samples a range of video game sounds, from Fortnite in ‘Fadeoutz’ and Mario Kart 64 on ‘Dreamflasher’, that contribute to the chaos. Despite the intensity, the tracks maintain individual nuances to illicit a range of emotional responses. The album centres around feelings of anger, described as “a ‘blind rage’ album”, relating to the personal feelings of Remover. In the wake of the growing marginalization of the queer community, the feelings of anger within the album are able to be redirected towards larger social systems and pathologies.

Honourable Mentions:
Softcult: ‘Love Song’
Pom Pom Squad: ‘Be Good’
Rebecca Black: ‘TRUST!’

Listen to the mentioned songs here: