New Dorian Electra, Johnny Manuel, and More on This Week’s Queer Music Mixtape

Welcome back to INTO’s Queer Music Mixtape, your #1 hub for all things new LGBTQ+ music. Here, we’re covering the hottest releases of the week in one handy guide.

The summer may be fading away, but these artists are sending it off in style. This week’s releases feature the ultimate queer dance pop anthem, dark sapphic brashness, and tons of iconic—as one of our artists puts it —”tr*nny sh*t”. What else is there?

We’ve included Instagram links in each byline, streaming links below for your convenience, and a full Queer Music Mixtape playlist from our Spotify page to keep you rocking out for hours to come!

Max out the volume on this week’s Queer Music Mixtape:

“Puppet” by Dorian Electra

Dorian Electra’s darkly enticing new single “Puppet” joins previous tracks “Freak Show” and “Sodom & Gomorrah” in pulling fans deeper into the world of upcoming album Fanfare. With grimy bass, an ever-switching flow, and interpolations of “Für Elise”, this song stands as another bit of beautiful madness from Dorian. If nothing else, anyone who can perfectly fit a Miss Piggy bar in a harsh alt-pop hook is clearly on another level.

Stream Dorian Electra on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Molotov” by Johnny Manuel

On his moody new single “Molotov”, “Younger Skin” singer Johnny Manuel is putting a match to his past and watching it burn. The video sees the artist through glitchy monochromatic visuals pulled in tight, bringing the audience right up close and personal. “‘Molotov’ is about rebuilding after you’ve burned it all to ashes…I had to burn down all my past resentments, frustrations and disappointments before I could start constructing this new version of myself.”

Stream Johnny Manuel on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“I JUST WANNA DANCE!” by Bentley Robles & LEXXE

MLM/WLW solidarity has never looked so hot. Bentley Robles and Lexxe are no strangers to a queer powerpop collab — both ate earlier this year on their respective singles “See Me Naked” and “Lips Of An Angel” — but their combined power is almost too much to handle. Between the pulsing FLORIO production, the infectious choreo, and the duo’s unabashed sex appeal, “I JUST WANNA DANCE!” is bound to leave the viewer feeling gay in some direction.

Stream Bentley Robles on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Stream LEXXE on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

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Bad Bunny’s Nude Selfie Has Everyone Turning Up Their Phone’s Brightness

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“She Culture” by Mel 4Ever

“GO B*TCH!” singer Mel 4Ever is empowering and arresting in her latest dark electro-pop offering, “She Culture”. Featuring some of her boldest visuals to date (a high bar!), this new video sees the singer finding her greatest weapon in the reclamation of her own body. “’She Culture’ is for anyone who has felt scared walking into a room full of cis men,” Mel explains. “It’s for people who second-guess if they should walk alone at night. It’s for people who have hated themselves, and the people who haven’t figured out why they hate themselves.”

Stream Mel 4Ever on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“In Spades” by teddy<3

Trans music legend Teddy Geiger (stylized as “teddy<3”) continues the build-up towards her upcoming album Teresa with this dreamy, lovelorn call into the ether. The singer recalls of the track’s production, “This song began at the living room table in Spain with that lil bubbling intro synth…I ended up finishing it as a song when I was revisiting the sessions, while tracking stuff in NYC with my friend/close collaborator Evan Voytas. This song is about unrequited devotion to the utmost degree.”

Stream teddy<3 on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Heartbreak Radio” by Gia Woods

As much as Gia Woods is able to smash some ecstatic pop (“Elevation”, “Lesbionic”, etc), this “Heartbreak County” singer’s ability to make melancholy magic is always going to satisfy. Maybe it’s the romantic spirit that made “Only A Girl” take off bleeding through, or maybe it’s her devotion as a student of pop letting her tap into the Kesha “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”-style spirit. Whatever it is that allows her to turn heartbreak into hits, it’s working.

Stream Gia Woods on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Related:

Ethel Cain Previews Her Next Two Projects And Shares Her Coming Out Story: “Wrong Letter”

Ethel Cain is coming back, and soon — first with an EP and then a full-length album, both expanding the story of the titular character.

The Talking Stage by Ali Shah

Synth pop prince Ali Shah has landed with his sophomore EP The Talking Stage, a collection he’s dubbed “the soundtrack to all situationships”. Co-produced by Liam Benayon, this project dances its way through the expanse of emotions that lie in the relationship-ish unknown: the fluttery rush of the beginning, the constant uncertainty, and the conclusion that comes all too soon.

Stream Ali Shah on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Moonlanded by Birthh

Throughout Moonlanded, the third studio album from Birthh, the artist brings her listeners along on the interstellar journey that is self-discovery. From loveable early releases like “Jello” and “Puppy” to the ultra-earnest album closer “Blue”, the audience finds themselves floating through a space as deeply relatable as it is alien. “This is my journey into what it feels like to be a sensitive human in their 20s in the 2020s, through all the pressure coming from within and from the world we were left with,” the artist states. “It’s about creating space for ourselves and realizing that each of us is the protagonist in our own story.”

Stream Birthh on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“BITE DOWN” by Beck Pete

With a sound fusing soul and rock elements into something as bouncy as it is chaotic, Beck Pete’s new track on sinking her teeth into extremes is an exemplary fit for the bicon-to-be. “‘BITE DOWN’ is about the extremism that we have chiseled into our sweet lil brains as humans that we have to shed in order to find what’s really ‘ours’,” she shares. “I’m finding the middle right now for myself and can’t wait to find my next one.”

Stream Beck Pete on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“I Got Heaven” by Mannequin Pussy

Philly punk outfit Mannequin Pussy is as bombastic as ever on “I Got Heaven”, a sharp reclamation of the titular utopia from those who use it as a weapon. Lead singer Marisa Dabice explains, “‘I Got Heaven’ is a song intended to merge the sacred and the profane and to serve as a reminder that we are all perfect exactly as we have been made and that no one gets to decide how a life should or should not be lived.”

Stream Mannequin Pussy on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Find your friends in the energy and join us back here next weekend for another Queer Music Mixtape!

Keep the tunes going with our official Queer Music Mixtape playlist: