FEATURE:
Queer as Folk
IN THIS PHOTO: girl in red (Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven) identifies as a queer artist
The New Normal: Changing Attitudes and Acceptance in 2021
___________
THAT title might…
IN THIS PHOTO: Arlo Parks (left)
seem quite vague to many people. I want to bring in an interview where the amazing girl in red discussed her material and hope she can normalise queerness in music. I think the last few years has seen change and greater acceptance. In terms of race, we still have a way to go in terms of there being parity and true progression. I think there is greater visibility and inclusiveness compared to a few years back. The same goes for gender. Whilst we have problems with festival line-ups being male-heavy, I do think that there have been improvements in other areas. I think the pandemic has provided a chance for reflection and, hopefully, change. I think the sexual spectrum has opened and become more integrated into music. There are artists like Sam Smith who identify as non-binary. Ezra Furman recently came out as transgender. There are amazing bisexual, gay and queer artists. From Years & Years’ Olly Alexander, to Arlo Parks, to Shura, I feel that it is important that music is as broad and open as possible when it comes to sexual identity. There was a time when music, especially in the mainstream, was very heteronormative. I still think there is this ideal and majority that has meant a lot of artists – who identity as L.G.B.T.G.Q.I.A.+ - have been afraid to express themselves or be honest through their music.
I will get to that interview soon, as a very interesting point was raised. Baby Queen, FLETCHER and Liz Lawrence are amazing queer artists who are definitely inspiring others. I wonder whether, as my title implied, there is a bit of a genre limitation. I think that more Pop and Indie artists are identifying as queer and L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+. I am not suggesting that other genres and areas of music are less accepting, though I wonder whether there are concerns that they might not be as tolerant and encouraging when it comes to integrating that into the music. From ZAND, Vincint and Tia Carys, there are some awesome L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artists to watch out for this year. Attitude have provided a guide; as have The Gay Times. I am heterosexual male, and it can be tiring and frustrating realising there are artists that struggle for acceptance or they have changed the way they write because they are fearful that people will not listen. I do think that things are changing when it comes to L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artists and finding an audience. Huge artists like St. Vincent and King Princess have shown that. Whilst many of the songs documenting love might be gender-neutral or, perhaps, less explicit than you might hear from many heterosexual artists, I don’t think that is because of potential blowback or judgment. Japanese Breakfast is another wonderful artist who is flying the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ flag. So too is the superb Rostam and Romy (of The xx). Here is a useful article that highlights L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artists teasing albums this year.
I really like the music of girl in red. I think she is going to be a huge star. The twenty-two-year-old is someone to watch. She is a queer icon, and someone who commands a huge following - on TikTok, she is followed by 1.7 million people. I think there is a stigma on some platforms and corners where people feel that, if you listen to the music of a queer/L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artist, then that means you are the same as them, sexually. It is worrying that this mindset and ignorance exists. I want to grab from an interview The Guardian conducted with girl in red recently. Whilst the music industry as a whole is moving in the right direction regarding queer visibility and acceptance, there are some countries that are still very much behind the time:
“Ulven cottoned on to the trend, putting posters with the slogan in countries such as Brazil, Poland and Russia, “places where gay rights are not moving in the right direction, and we made it a really cool moment,” she enthuses. “If my songs can in any way shape or form normalise queerness then that’s amazing.” She is optimistic on the subject, foreseeing a future where “coming out” – a duty only queer people are lumbered with – is no longer necessary. “I think in the next 40 years we’re going to see a big difference. I listened to this podcast that said a lot of people feel like there’s no threshold [any more], there’s nothing to come out of. I think we’re moving in the right direction for that, at least in some places in the world.”
Ulven is thankful that she grew up in a liberal country, but her home town of Horten, in eastern Norway, felt stifling in other ways. Excitement was hard to come by: she occupied herself by writing songs after being turned on to guitar music in her mid-teens by the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower (“I went from full-on basic bitch to full-on indie girl”), although she also attributes the lo-fi, C86 style of her early work to her limited production abilities. Now, however, Ulven’s music is free from restraints and her superb upcoming debut album If I Could Make It Go Quiet – which she wrote almost entirely herself, and also produced with help from Matias Tellez and Finneas – flits between synthpop, R&B, new wave, rap and piano balladry: “I don’t fuck with genres, but who does any more? I made it, that’s the uniting thing.”
Whether her theme is desire or depression, Ulven’s personal voice is characterised by stark, specific honesty. She belongs to a new wave of young artists determined to counter empty empowerment anthems with warts-and-all vulnerability – not that Ulven likes the term’s connotations of weakness or exposure. “I don’t feel like I’m being really vulnerable because these are things that we all go through. There’s nothing to expose about feeling heartbroken”.
I think artists like girl in red, and the vulnerable way she writes, will help normalise queerness and break down boundaries. It will also encourage other queer artists and show that they are able to write about their experiences and relationships in a way that is very natural. I think it will not be long until we do not need to talk about queerness as being different or visible – it will just become normal. The same goes for other L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artists. It is encouraging to hear girl in red say that, for artists (and others in society), the usual queer experience of ‘coming out’ might not be needed; that there is no threshold to come out of. There are a lot of fantastic queer artists now. It would be great to see even more integration and awareness. Some genres have some bright and hopeful young artists talking about their experiences as a queer person. There are others where there are very few – I think it is more to do with other factors beyond there not being many queer artists in that genre(s). Thanks to the amazing and inspiring queer artists in music right now, it will become…
THE New Normal.