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Debut album from Ben Platt is emotional, well paced

Quartet of videos, emotional lyrics power project from Broadway wunderkind

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Ben Platt, gay news, Washington Blade
Ben Platt has conquered Broadway. His vocal abilities are on solid display on is debut pop album. (Image courtesy of Atlantic Records)

Needless to say, the bridge between Broadway and Music Row is well traveled. Sara Bareilles and Brendon Urie are only the most recent examples of pop artists who have gone on to work successfully in the world of musical theater. But Ben Platt is one of the rarer examples of someone taking the opposite direction ā€” from Broadway to a pop album. His debut album ā€œSing To Me Insteadā€ attempts to bring together these two very different worlds.

The 25-year-old openly gay Platt made his Broadway debut in ā€œThe Book of Mormonā€ as Elder Cunningham. He later starred as Evan Hansen in ā€œDear Evan Hansenā€ on Broadway, for which he won a Grammy (Best Musical Theatre Album) and a Tony (Best Actor in a Musical). Add to that the role of Benji Applebaum in the ā€œPitch Perfectā€ movie franchise.

Platt sits right at the happy junction of Broadway songwriting and gay pop performers. Gay pop artists are still something of a rarity, though their presence has been steading growing with performers like Troye Sivan, Years & Years, Jake Shears and Sam Smith. Yet Platt finds himself in the even smaller company of out singers who use gender-specific pronouns for their love interests.   

The album opens with Platt accompanied by a slightly out-of-tune upright piano, singing the somber tune ā€œBad Habit.ā€ He sings in a clear, powerful baritone, resorting to falsetto in the final choruses. The reason for his extraordinary Broadway success becomes quickly apparent. And while no doubt he is an excellent singer, he has an incredible ability to communicate emotionally with the listener. Saying so seems banal, but Platt pushes this communication far beyond the regular boundaries of pop music.

So far four music videos have been released to promote the album, for singles ā€œEase My Mind,ā€ ā€œBad Habit,ā€ ā€œGrow As We Goā€ and ā€œTemporary Love.ā€ The video for ā€œEase My Mindā€ centers on the break up of a gay relationship, a theme Platt touches on in a number of the new tracks. It is a beautiful song, which could almost be categorized as gospel, complete with a blues organ and vocal humming. It may be the best song on the album. The videos already have almost five million views combined, a good start for a debut album release. 

The single ā€œGrow As You Goā€ is another great track, with an acoustic sound. One canā€™t help but be reminded of recent tracks such as Family of the Yearā€™s ā€œHero.ā€ And the lyrics are especially touching: ā€œIf to change is what you need/you can change right next to me.ā€ Platt is one of the rare artists whose lyrics are completely absorbing.

The album has much in common with Sara Bareillesā€™ 2007 album ā€œLittle Voiceā€ with its piano-driven uptempo songs and numerous ballads, though ā€œSing To Me Insteadā€ is lacking an equally chart-ready single like Bareillesā€™ ā€œLove Song.ā€ Plattā€™s ā€œTemporary Loveā€ is perhaps the closest thing to a typical pop single on the album, a well-produced song about proving oneā€™s love to a partner. Itā€™s catchy, uptempo and soulful. And though decidedly baritone, Platt makes good use of his range and his falsetto has plaintive, breathy quality to it. 

Some of the best tracks are saved for the tail end of the album. ā€œShare Your Addressā€ has a charmingly theatrical quality and itā€™s almost hard it to picture it off-stage. ā€œIn Case You Donā€™t Live Foreverā€ is one of the best songs on the album. Like Plattā€™s other songs, it is perfectly paced and has the remarkable yet rare capacity to take the listener on an emotional journey. The story-driven songs are both compelling and catchy.

Like songs from most contemporary Broadway, Platt appeals to the most universal human stories. And unlike so much of pop music, the relatability of his music does not come at the expense of their quality. If anything, he is lacking somewhat in the charisma one associates with a typical pop artist. But what he lacks in charisma, he makes up abundantly elsewhere.

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Music & Concerts

Musical icons and newer stars to rock D.C. this spring

Brandi Carlile, Bad Bunny, Nicki Minaj, and more headed our way

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Brandi Carlile plays the Anthem this month.

Bands and solo artists of all different genres are visiting D.C. this spring. Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will team up to perform at the Wolf Trap in June, and girl in red will play at the Anthem in April. Some artists and bands arenā€™t paying a visit until the summer, like Janet Jackson and Usher, but there are still plenty of acts to see as the weather warms up. 

MARCH 

Brandi Carlile plays at the Anthem on March 21; Arlo Parks will perform at 9:30 Club on March 23; Girlschool will take the stage at Blackcat on March 28.

APRIL 

Nicki Minaj stops in D.C. at Capital One Arena as part of her North American tour on April 1; Bad Bunny plays at Capital One Arena on April 9 as part of his Most Wanted tour; girl in red performs at the Anthem on April 20 and 21; Brandy Clark plays at the Birchmere on April 25; Laufey comes to town to play at the Anthem on April 25 and 26. 

MAY 

Belle and Sebastian play at the Anthem on May 2; Chastity Belt performs at Blackcat on May 4; Madeleine Peyroux stops at the Birchmere on May 5; The Decemberists play at the Anthem on May 10; the rock band Mannequin Pussy performs at the Atlantis on May 17 and 18; Hozier plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 17 as part of the Unreal Unearth tour. 

JUNE 

Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will sing soulful melodies at Wolf Trap on June 8; Joe Jackson performs at the Lincoln Theatre on June 10; the Pixies and Modest Mouse are teaming up to play at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 14; Maggie Rogers plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 16 as part of The Donā€™t Forget Me tour; Brittany Howard headlines the Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap on June 22; Sarah McLachlan plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 27; Alanis Morissette performs at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 29 and 30

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Music & Concerts

Grammys: Queer women and their sisters took down the house

Taylor Swift won Album of the Year

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When the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked when there will be enough women on the Supreme Court, her answer was simple: Nine. She stated: “I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” RBG did not attend the Grammyā€™s last night, but her spirit sure did. Women, at long last, dominated, ruled and killed the night.

Cher, in song a decade ago, declared that ā€œthis is a womanā€™s world,ā€ but there was little evidence that was true, Grammy, and entertainment awards, speaking. In 2018, the Grammys were heavily criticized for lack of female representation across all categories and organizersā€™ response was for women to ā€œstep up.ā€

Be careful what you wish for boys.

The biggest star of the 2024 Grammys was the collective power of women. They made history, they claimed legacy and they danced and lip sang to each otherā€™s work. Standing victorious was Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA (the most nominated person of the year), Lainey Wilson, Karol G, boygenius, Kylie Minogue and Victoria MonĆ©t. Oh, yes, and powerhouse Taylor Swift, the superstar from whom Fox News cowers in fear, made history to become the first performer of any gender to win four Best Album of the Year trophies.

In the throng of these powerful women stand a number of both LGBTQ advocates and queer identifying artists. Cyrus has identified as pansexual, SZA has said lesbian rumors ā€œainā€™t wrong,ā€ Phoebe Bridgers (winner of four trophies during the night, most of any artist) is lesbian, MonĆ©t is bi and Eilish likes women but doesnā€™t want to talk about it. Plus, ask any queer person about Swift or Minogue and you are likely to get a love-gush.

Women power was not just owned by the lady award winners. There were the ladies and then there were the Legends. The first Legend to appear was a surprise. Country singer Luke Combs has a cross-generational hit this year with a cover of Tracy Chapmanā€™s “Fast Car.” When originally released, the song was embraced as a lesbian anthem. When performing “Fast Car,” surprise, there was Chapman herself, singing the duet with Combs. The rendition was stunning, sentimental and historic.

Chapman, like many of the nightā€™s female dignitaries, has not been public with her sexuality. Author Alice Walker has spoken of the two of them being lovers, however.

The legend among legends of the night, however, was the one and only Joni Mitchell. Not gay herself, she embodies the concept of an LGBTQ icon, and was accompanied by the very out Brandi Carlile on stage. On her website, Mitchellā€™s statement to the LGBTQ community reads, “The trick is if you listen to that music and you see me, you’re not getting anything out of it. If you listen to that music and you see yourself, it will probably make you cry and you’ll learn something about yourself and now you’re getting something out of it.”

Mitchell performed her longtime classic “Both Sides Now.” The emotion, insight and delivery from the now 80-year old artist, survivor of an aneurism, was nothing short of profound. (To fully appreciate the nuance time can bring, check out the YouTube video of a Swift lookalike Mitchell singing the same song to Mama Cass and Mary Travers in 1969.) In this latest rendition, Mitchell clearly had an impact on Meryl Streep who was sitting in the audience. Talk about the arc of female talent and power.

That arc extended from a todayā€™s lady, Cyrus, to legend Celine Dion as well. Cyrus declared Dion as one of her icons and inspirations early in the evening. Dion appeared, graceful and looking healthy, to present the final, and historic, award of the night at the end of the show.

Legends did not even need to be living to have had an effect on the night. Tributes to Tina Turner and Sinead Oā€™Conner by Oprah, Fantasia Barrino-Taylor and Annie Lennox respectively, proved that not even death could stop these women. As Lennox has musically and famously put it, ā€œSisters are doing it for themselves.ā€

Even the content of performances by todayā€™s legends-in-the-making spoke to feminine power. Eilish was honored for, and performed “What Was I Made For?,” a haunting and searching song that speaks to the soul of womanhood and redefinition in todayā€™s fight for gender rights and expression, while Dua Lipa laid down the gauntlet for mind blowing performance with her rendition of “Houdini” at the top of the show, Cyrus asserted the power of her anthem “Flowers” and pretty much stole the show.

Cyrus had not performed the song on television before, and only three times publicly. She declared in her intro that she was thrilled over the business numbers the song garnered, but she refused to let them define her. As she sang the hit, she scolded the audience, ā€œyou guys act like you donā€™t know the words to this song.ā€ Soon the woman power of the room was singing along with her, from Swift to Oprah.

They can buy themselves flowers from now on. They donā€™t need anyone else. Cyrus made that point with the mic drop to cap all mic drops, ā€œAnd I just won my first Grammy!ā€ she declared as she danced off stage.

Even the squirmiest moment of the night still did not diminish the light of women power, and in fact, underscored it. During his acceptance of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, Jay-Z had a bone to pick with the Grammy voters. He called out the irony that his wife BeyoncĆ© had won more Grammys than any other human, but had never won the Best Album of the Year. Yeah, whatā€™s with that?

But then, it brought additional context ultimately to the fact that the winner of the most Grammys individually ā€¦ is a woman. And to the fact that the winner of the most Best Album of the Year awards ā€¦ is a woman.

Hopefully this was the night that the Grammys ā€œgot it.ā€ Women are the epicenter of The Creative Force.

Will the other entertainment awards get it soon as well? We can hope.

Most importantly, in a political world where womenā€™s healthcare is under siege. Will the American voters get it?

A little known band named Little Mix put it this way in their 2019 song ā€œA Womanā€™s World.ā€

ā€œIf you can’t see that it’s gotta change
Only want the body but not the brains
If you really think that’s the way it works
You ain’t lived in a woman’s world

Just look at how far that we’ve got
And don’t think that we’ll ever stopā€¦ā€

From Grammyā€™s mouth to the worldā€™s ear.

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Music & Concerts

Janet Jackson returning to D.C, Baltimore

‘Together Again Tour’ comes to Capital One Arena, CFG Bank Arena

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Janet Jackson is coming back to D.C. this summer.

Pop icon Janet Jackson announced this week an extension of her 2023 ā€œTogether Again Tour.ā€ A new leg of the tour will bring Jackson back to the area for two shows, one at D.C.ā€™s Capital One Arena on Friday, July 12 and another at Baltimoreā€™s CFG Bank Arena on Saturday, July 13.  

Tickets are on sale now via TicketMaster. LiveNation announced the 2023 leg of the tour consisted of 36 shows, each of which was sold out. The 2024 leg has 35 stops planned so far; R&B star Nelly will open for Jackson on the new leg. 

Jackson made the tour announcement Tuesday on social media: ā€œHey u guys! By popular demand, weā€™re bringing the Together Again Tour back to North America this summer with special guest Nelly! Itā€™ll be so much fun!ā€

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