Music & Concerts
Years & Years, Steve Grand return with stellar sophomore efforts
In vastly disparate ways, out singers use sexual candor to maximum effect
Olly Alexander, the British Years & Years frontman, uses religious imagery to great effect on his band’s new album. (Photo by Ed Cooke)
Out queer artists remain the exception in 2018. But the number who have come out or who are open about their sexuality continues to grow: Singers like Frank Ocean, Troye Sivan, Hayley Kiyoko, Janelle Monáe, Sam Smith and Brendon Urie are good examples of how queerness plays out on mainstream pop charts. But artists on the periphery of mainstream American pop rarely get the attention given to their Top 40 counterparts.
Two new albums make the less mainstream queer artists hard to ignore: British band Years & Years and American singer Steve Grand are out with sophomore albums that grapple with sexuality in prominent, public ways — and both comfortably use male pronouns to refer to a love interests, something of a rarity even for queer artists.
Years & Years, whose debut album “Communion” (2015) made it to No. 1 Billboard spot in the U.K., released a short film to accompany its new dance pop record “Palo Santo.” And it has much in common with Janelle Monáe’s recent “Dirty Computer,” which imagines a dystopian future where sexual nonconformity is controlled and repressed. “Palo Santo” envisions a futuristic city where humans serve as cabaret-style entertainment for unfeeling androids.
In the short film, Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander performs in the android-controlled cabaret. Complete with strip teases and elaborate choreography, the short film portrays humans forced into the seemingly impossible task of making the nonhuman androids feel emotion. The not-so-veiled critique of our over-connected culture comes through clearly and one can’t help but wonder if Alexander wrote parts of the album during a “Black Mirror” binge.
Lyrically, Years & Years navigates this sci-fi universe by way of religious language. “Sanctify,” the album’s lead single, is an up-tempo, sensual track with relatively sparse instrumentation — the verses rely heavily on percussion. The layered harmonies and vocal trills are reminiscent of early 2000s boybands like ‘NSYNC. But there’s something else at play, a subversive sensuality filtered through religious vocabulary. As Alexander croons sweetly in the chorus, “Sanctify my body with pain/sanctify the love that you crave.”
This interesting — to say the least — marriage of religious expressions and queer sexuality occurs over and over throughout the album. In “Hallelujah,” an upbeat dance track, he ties the word to the body of a lover: “Until our bodies are singing hallelujah.” The repurposing of religious verbiage is something of a band trademark: “Communion” was not a haphazard choice of title for their debut album. And many of the tracks on “Palo Santo” reflect this tendency, with titles such as “Sanctify,” “Hallelujah” and “Preacher.” Alexander is clearly invested in pushing lyrical boundaries.
The catchiest track on the album is “If You’re Over Me,” a cheery dance track with a bouncy synth hook. Consequently, it’s the song Alexander performs at the cabaret in the short film. The lyrics address familiar breakup themes: “Well you should set me free/baby if you’re over me.” But the song is irresistibly danceable and has already been performing well on the charts, arriving at No. 6 on the Billboard Official U.K. Singles Chart.
But the album isn’t all dance. As with the “Communion,” “Palo Santo” shows a great deal of variety. The title track plays with various rhythms and is piano driven. In “Here,” the most subdued track on the album, Alexander relies on his upper register and layered harmonies to create a haunting, ethereal sound. The simplicity of the lyrics add to the effect: the chorus is just a simple repetition of the phrase “I’m not here.”
“Palo Santo” stands out not only for its high production values — the costumes and choreography — but also for its seamless flow. Each track is meticulously placed. The album’s overall sound and Alexander’s vocals are at times reminiscent of Justin Timberlake’s on “FutureSex/LoveSounds” (2006). And it stands as a reminder that queer artists need not sacrifice musical quality for a strong concept.
If Years & Years trends continental, edgy and futuristic, Steve Grand is a fully homegrown product. Following the success of his 2015 album “All American Boy,” the singer from suburban Illinois has been a fixture of the gay community, regularly performing at summer concerts in Provincetown and at Pride festivals, and relishing the opportunity to sing in his underwear — almost as much as his enthusiastic fans.
Much like his previous album, “Not the End of Me” bounces between piano-driven pop/rock and country. But the album cover shows an unsmiling, bearded Grand, who seems ready to show a deeper part of himself. Writing as a gay man, the songs deal with relationships, hook-up culture and cheating.
There are many things to like about Grand’s new album. His lyrics are wonderfully conversational and he’s an excellent storyteller. His songs have a refreshing down-to-earth quality. Though the reverb is often overdone and he’s sometimes more than a little cheesy, there is something almost irresistible and believable about Grand’s music.
The single “Walking” is a synthesizer-heavy dance track. It’s a fun, catchy song that is likely to find its way into nightclubs. It comes closest to the youthful, carefree feeling of songs like “Better Off” and “All-American Boy” from the previous album.
“Ain’t It Something” has the feel of Jason Mraz song, a summer romance with a beach vibe. As Grand charmingly puts it, “You walked in with that grin, as if proud of the job you did/Hiding that southern accent, but I know a ‘good-ole’ boy’ when I see him.”
But Grand is at his best when he’s behind the piano. And the more reflective material on “Not the End of Me” gives him the chance to do just that, particularly on tracks “Don’t Let the Light In,” “Anti Hero,” “All I Want” and “Can’t Go Back.”
Years & Years and Steve Grand exemplify queer artists outside of the mainstream who are unafraid to make sexuality a central theme of their music. And in all likelihood, they are just the tip of the iceberg.
Steve Grand (Photo courtesy of Grand)
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1
I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.
Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”
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