QT Music Blog

Rett Madison - Pin-up Daddy

Rae Khalil - Shawty

serpentwithfeet - cherubim

I get to devote my life to him

Figgy Baby - Seams

Motteo - Bushwick Boys

I’ll try anything one time

Dizzy Fae - Lifestyle

Figgy Baby - Goodbye to Begin With feat. Made By Crooks

Growin’ up ain’t that hard until you’re grown

Rett Madison - God is a Woman

No love is a sin

On “God is a Woman,” Rett Madison embraces the beauty of loving women in spite of the indoctrination and homophobia that characterized her upbringing. “I cried the rosary behind closed eyes,” she sings, powerfully conveying the burden of Catholic guilt. Each chorus opens with a goosebump-inducing melodic line before she proclaims her newfound faith. Her voice complements the vibrant guitar tone, while the organ and strings add drama. The song builds to a lush arrangement that will open your heart and consecrate your soul.

The song was released during Pride month along with another single, “Twenty Five.” Madison shared on her Facebook, “‘God is a Woman’ specifically reflects on my experience celebrating and accepting my queerness after being raised in a predominantly Catholic town. Through the love of many radiant queer folks in my life, I was able to love myself.”

Dizzy Fae - Johnny Bravo

You wanna run off and feel a touch

Dizzy Fae’s mixtape Free Form is many-prismed, evoking the image of a compound eye. The mixtape opens with “Her,” a track reminiscent of a classical overture, before “Johnny Bravo” lands like a thunderclap. Dizzy’s voice is artistic and athletic at once, and her melodic choices upend convention in increasingly refreshing ways. Her avoidance of genre classification doesn’t mean that she doesn’t take a stance - in fact, her persona is unapologetic. 

As she told Gay Times, “I work with three producers, and I’m so thankful to be working with people that know what they’re doing, and allow me to come into a room and be who I wanna be, say what I need to say. That was one thing I was a little bit afraid about in the industry, is being not just a brown woman, but a woman. Being put into situations where I don’t get a say, and I don’t get a voice, and I really wanna amplify that you can do what you want, and have a whole team that backs you up.”

Elizabeth Wyld - Child

I wonder what you’d be like to come home to

LEOPOLD - Symbols

Every glance is dangerous

Young M.A - PettyWap

Strip Down - You Can’t Know Me

You’re lying through your teeth

Berlin-based artist Elie Gregory has returned from a hiatus with the defiant track “You Can’t Know Me.” Infectious synths zip around their cool-headed vocals while the music video, filmed in reverse, shows a downpour of colorful paints slowly dripping upwards into nothingness. After revealing their piercing gaze, Gregory is vulnerable but in control of their image. “Marking a new chapter in their career, the raw and unapologetic exposure represents not just a release from imposed gender norms – but acknowledges the stains they leave behind” (EPK).

Lucy & La Mer feat. Bugsy - Rebel Babe

It's my right to misbehave

In this summer jam, Lucy LaForge rallies her sisters and resisters for a celebration of fluidity. Dancing on the beach to the confidence-boosting track, they bend the rules and topple false binaries. The video also shows LaForge creating a gender-neutral bathroom. “Rebel Babe’s” sunny dance-pop style is new territory for the artist and a promising preview of her upcoming EP I Feel Better Now. It’s an important statement about the dangers of trying to erase and control marginalized groups.

As the singer-songwriter told Billboard, “This is a huge issue of masculine and feminine and how we have to draw this straight line through it and make laws about it. It is absolutely infuriating, and it has caused so many needless problems in our society . . . We're dividing people instead of embracing their differences and the fact that there is a fluid gender spectrum and a spectrum of sexuality as well.”

Zach Benson - Hang Up!

I’m not your lonely Friday night

Zach Benson returns with his third and final EP, Prom. This melodramatic collection of songs details his experiences of love and heartbreak as a queer person. Benson hopes to help other queer people feel a sense of community through the nostalgia in these songs. Listen loud!

Lies Kill - Fear the Future

You fear your own worth

Baltimore’s Lies Kill have released the second single from Everything Is Memory, due next March. Partly a tribute to bands like Linkin Park, “Fear the Future” pushes these influences into unknown territory. It’s an expansive mix of nu metal, industrial, and pop that will shred your expectations and your speakers.

Emerging from a cloak of static, the lead guitar rips into the foreground with savage force. Mysterious synths billow into the upper register before Rye Ann’s vocals emerge. They question the way many people drift through life while numbing their feelings and repressing their intuition. After taking a dream-pop detour on the choruses, the song swoops into a breakdown with hardcore growls. Also included is an instrumental bonus track titled “The Future is Yours.”

Now, Now - Holy Water