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Country music is making more and more room for LGBTQ+ artists, and Brooke Eden is one of the women leading the pace. Her latest song, “Left You for Me,” has been in steady rotation at CMT, and she’s performed the inspiring track at CMA Fest, at NYC’s Pride March, and on NBC’s Today. “‘Left You for Me’ was inspired by the process of moving on,” Eden says. “Whether that be from a bad relationship, others’ expectations, or anything that no longer serves you. For me personally, I wrote it from the perspective of leaving behind others’ expectations for my life. I’d spent so much of my life people pleasing and trying to make everyone else comfortable, and this was the first chapter of my life where I started to ask myself: what would make me happy?” We got to see even more pieces of her heart when her EP Choosing You dropped in late July.
After being with her current girlfriend for four years, Corook, the self-described queer AF chubby dork from Pennsylvania, is ready for some exploration on her new song “BDSM.” Corook says that the song feels to her like a natural extension of her recent EP Achoo!, which highlights her unique sense of humor and creative take on songwriting and multi-instrumental alt-pop. “I feel more safe and loved for who I am than any relationship before this. However, I found out that when you spend an extended amount of time with someone, no matter how much you love them, your relationship naturally becomes more predictable and less exciting,” she said of the new song. “I wanted to make a love song that shed light on that complex but relatable feeling. There’s no sexy affair or fling hotter than unconditional love from someone you know and respect deeply.”
The Aces, out of Provo, Utah, are one of the most fun bands touring today. Lead singer Cristal Ramirez is a pure rock star cut from the same cloth as Mick Jagger, and the band puts on shows that would make the 2000’s best boy bands blush. Their last album, Under My Influence, was their best yet, and their new music is getting even better, starting with the up-tempo pop-punk song “Girls Make Me Wanna Die.” The band members say the song “is a nostalgic call back to our adolescence and shared experience of being young, queer, and painfully in love with your best friend.” “Everyone remembers that feeling,” they continue. “So many ‘what if’s,’ so much longing. Every single look and touch meant something. We wanted this song to feel desperate and full of youth, so we stripped it down to how everything started back when we were kids, jamming in the basement. Guitar, drums, bass, and a distorted vocal.” As they’re part of the wave of great sapphic pop, fans of Hayley Kiyoko, FLETCHER, MUNA, and Zolita will absolutely adore the Aces.
In her new song “think of drugs,” BAYLI brings lo-fi R&B vibes to the question “Do you ever think of me…like you think of drugs?” and themes of unrequited love. “It is a very personal song that allows me to feel an intimate connection with my listeners,” BAYLI says. “Although being lyrically vulnerable and sometimes provocative seems like a common thread throughout my music, being vulnerable is something that I struggle with in my day-to-day life, so being able to share that side of myself through my music has kind of saved my life.” The singer-songwriter, who was mentored by legendary producer Rick Rubin, is ready for even more intimacy when she releases her second solo EP later this year. “I feel like my first EP really hit home for a lot of people and is still touching new hearts and minds every day, but it was a short, five-song body of work and, according to the internet, BAYLI fans are starving!” she says. “I can’t keep them waiting any longer…the story continues, but in a whole new territory.”
Mariel Buckley’s upcoming second album is for “losers and underdogs,” outsiders, and lost souls. It’s for kids who don’t feel like they have a place and for people who feel left out. Everywhere I Used to Be, out August 12, sees Buckley bringing her misfit message back to roots music and alt-folk with a jump toward pop music in style and production. “I don’t particularly want any one album to sound ‘the same’ as the one preceding it,” she says. “That’s a good way to get bored, in my case. When I settled on the ‘synth-pop’ route for this kinda-country effort, I wanted a producer who would totally get the vibe. Marcus Paquin and the recording crew were an incredible part of making this true to my vision.” She adds, “I’m most proud of the songwriting on ‘Hate This Town’ and ‘Neon Blue,’ but I’m proud of the whole darn package. It’s definitely a jump from the last one, but I think in the best way possible.” Everywhere I Used to Be is raw and soul-baring, classic and contemporary, and sets the tone for what should be a long and brilliant career.
Rapper Cuee has been putting out empowering rap music that makes you want to dance and live your best life for a couple years now, but after getting top surgery this year, he’s a new man and a new musician. On his latest EP, Coming Out, he raps about being proud of who he is, thriving when the world is against him, and finding unapologetic love. But his favorite song, “Man Now,” is about his journey to become his best self. “I had top surgery at the end of Pride Month this year, and it was one of the biggest milestones of my transitional journey,” he says. “I’ve always been confident in myself and how I showed up in this world, but now my body matches what my mind has always seen, and I haven’t stopped smiling and feeling good since. This track is symbolic to that journey, my energy, and what people can expect to hear from me moving forward: confidence.”
Indie folk artist Zoe Boekbinder has just released their first new solo music since 2018 — the double single “I Am Yesterday/Cut My Heart in Two.” “I Am Yesterday” plays dreamy guitar under raw, heartbreaking vocals in a song about the pain of losing a friendship and knowing that you’re a villain in someone else’s story. “So many parts of my life came together when I was writing this song,” Boekbinder says. “It’s about more than one thing, and it’s about all of us. It’s queer. It’s abolitionist. It’s accepting heartache.” Boekbinder, who co-produced (with Ani DiFranco) the Prison Music Project’s Long Time Gone, is currently working on a new record that will be made by, performed by, produced by, and promoted by a team of people of marginalized genders.
This story is part of The Advocate’s 2022 History issue, which is out on newsstands August 30. To get your own copy directly, support queer media and subscribe — or download yours for Amazon, Kindle, Nook, or Apple News.
