New MUNA, Madison Rose, 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.

Whew, the alphabeticals were working overtime this week! Synths and drum machines everywhere are being pushed to their limits as artists gear up for summer album drops, Pride season, and the endless string of music festivals already in progress.

If the musical whirlwind has left you dizzy, we’ve got a list of must-listens to set you back upright. Whether you’re in the mood for high profile, high energy sapphics or they/thems in their feelings, we’ve got you covered.

Settle in for this week’s LP-length Queer Music Mixtape:

“One That Got Away” by MUNA

The world’s premier “dyke boyband” placed their foot firmly on our collective neck with their self-titled album just last summer, and here they are less than a year later with another smash single, this time with even more drama than usual. After all, what has more drama than a breakup song from a band with exes as members? The Fleetwoodian undercurrent only works to make this bop even boppier. And apropos of nothing, Jo’s The Bear cook realness has me twirling my hair and kicking my feet something fierce.

Stream MUNA on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Idolize” by Madison Rose

A lot of artists attempt to meet the current moment of anti-queerphobia with something between a “Same Love” and a “Fight Song”. Thankfully, Madison Rose doesn’t know how to make anything less than a complete f***ing banger. As she wrote in her first sneak peek video for the track, “We are our own idols. We are our own heroes. We are nothing without each other.” This community has always keep each other safe, and we’re not stopping any time soon.

Stream Madison Rose on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Sex & Other Drugs” by Greyson Chance

On “Sex & Other Drugs”, Greyson is riding the post-Palladium wave with aplomb. This song and previous single “Herringbone” round out the deluxe edition of the album, bringing this era to a perfectly melancholy close. We do hope that the next era brings with it a little bit of that “Black on Black”, “Twenty One”, “Boots”-level fun we’ve gotten from him before, but maybe we’re just missing the pop boys in general right now.

Stream Greyson Chance on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“feel it now (alive)” by Wrabel

As Wrabel expressed in our exclusive chapter of me interview, he’s in his “Unwritten” bag with this one. “feel it now (alive)” taps into that incredibly relatable post-pandemic (well, sorta-kinda-not-actually-post) vibe of wanting to feel like a human being again. Like many of us, Wrabel says that he’s “still pretty scared” and a “still a masked mama”, but 3 years feels like enough of a chunk of our one shining moment on this little blue marble to spend being afraid. Cautious, for sure, but shaking off the fear and feeling the rain on your skin.

Stream Wrabel on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Related:

Wrabel is an Open Book on New ‘chapter of me’ EP

With a new EP out today and a sophomore record quickly coming together, singer-songwriter Wrabel has plenty of stories to tell.

“Music Box” by Leith Ross

First of all, we won. Long-time fans are all too familiar with this track by now, as it was first posted to TikTok in June of 2021. Since then, over ten thousand videos have used that first acoustic snippet as a sound for their videos. It’s been around for so long that folks had fully internalized it even as an unreleased track; when Leith not-so-subtly announced this song as a single last month, one commenter wrote that they often sing it to children at the preschool they work in when one needs comforting. What could describe this song — or this singer’s relationship with their audience — better?

Stream Leith Ross on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Butch Queens” by Adrian Xpression

The absolute dramatics in dropping a surprise EP on your own birthday, not to mention one called Coochie Cutters. You’re only going to get that kind of flair from an artist like Adrian Xpression. All three tracks give what need to be gave, but this crunk ode to the Butch Queen™ is queer ATL perfection. It’s always so satisfying when a pop culture commentator can take what they’ve learned about the landscape and apply it to their own art to put out something that truly slaps.

Stream Adrian Xpression on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“All Blades Perish” by ieuan

We just got a brand new ieuan track last month, but this one is apparently the official start of the new album cycle. If this energetic dazzle-pop sound is indicative of where ieuan 3.0 is headed, we’re WAY onboard. And as touching as his message for this song and the journey back to himself is to read, nothing’s outdoing him calling this track his “Superbass”. The Barbs will be streaming.

Stream ieuan on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Black Ice” by Kaien Cruz

Have you ever wanted to listen to something with that relaxed, layered Post Malone mood but from someone with a clear voice and some introspective LGBTQ+ sensibilities? A specific ask, we know, but when it hits, it hits. Kaien describes their first new track of the year as “an honest song about navigating tumultuous romantic relationships – all of the highs and lows, unavoidable truths, toxic behaviors and even self-discovery.” The sound of it brings a little SZA SOS, a little Tayla Parx solo work, and a little something new to discover.

Stream Kaien Cruz on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Blades” by Arlo Parks

This sonic change-up for Arlo has us even more excited for My Soft Machine. If the groove has you tapping your feet uncontrollably, you’re not alone. Arlo intended the song to be “something that I can dance to, finally, because I feel like my songs don’t really have that quality in general.” She also namedrops ESG and Kaytranada as influences, as well as “a lot of the kind of ’70s Zambian psychedelic rock.” This is just letting us know that we need to be listening to more ’70s Zambian psychedelic rock.

Stream Arlo Parks on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Why Can’t It Be You” by moistbreezy

Just a week away from the release of her next album, moistbreezy is giving us one last advanced look into the project and it’s highly grooveable. “Why Can’t It Be You” plays like a Dance Dance Revolution deepcut that you got addicted to back in the day and have been desperately trying to rediscover for like two decades. In a word, satisfying.

Stream moistbreezy on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Holding On” by Jayli Wolf

This queer Anishinaabe/Cree creator has a voice that cuts to something deep on first listen. She has a sound as folksy as it is electronic, merging classic storytelling and emotion with driving modern rhythm and techniques. The dreamlike video fittingly finds itself between historic aesthetics and modern filmmaking, making for a unique vision.

Stream Jayli Wolf on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

“Out of Me” by Donna Missal

As the strobing, flickering visuals suggest (yes, that’s a nod to Missal’s last single), this track is a dancefloor-ready pulse pounder. The singer describes this track as “about an acceptance of where I was, just to be that tired from that endless reaching feeling.” Juxtaposed with the constant movement and flow of the dancers is the underlying desire: “I think I just needed to talk about wanting to stop.”

Stream Donna Missal on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Good luck trying to stream all of these before it’s time to meet us back her next week for another Queer Music Mixtape!