“Brave” by Adaline

Adaline is back! It’s been a few years since her last release, but the alt-pop singer has announced a brand new EP, and released the first single from it, “Brave”.

The song is inspired by reconciling her own queerness with her religious upbringing (as the daughter of an evangelical minister), as well as stories of hundreds of LGBTQ+ people in a non-profit community she founded called Bad Believer.

She explains, “Is it worth the cost to unveil your authentic self, even if it means potentially losing the people you love? Even if it means forever altering the perception of you in the minds of the people who matter most? These are the kinds of painful, vulnerable and anxious questions grappled with in this coming out ballad. My mother and I have always been very affectionate with each other. But I also knew the narrative of queer people being an abomination, disgusting and immoral was a part of her religious, political, and cultural upbringing. I questioned whether she would hold me or "kiss my face" the same after finding out. The thought of losing our special connection was almost enough to keep me in the closet. These fears and questions are so often repeated to me in conversations with other people considering coming out, I wanted to give a voice to their feelings and concerns.”

You can find out more on Bad Believer, a community that helps people heal from religious trauma at their website, and Adaline’s new EP Hymnal will be out on March 22.

Kirk

“Flowers On The Fire Escape” by Moonriivr

Say it with me now…. SUPERGROUP!!!

We’ve got a new band called Moonriivr, featuring Gavin Gardiner (The Wooden Sky), “Champagne” James Robertson (Lindi Ortega, Dwayne Gretzky), with Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), and Lyle Molzan (Kathleen Edwards).

Birthed, like many projects of late, during the pandemic, Gardiner and Robertson got together together on Robertson’s family farm and created some seriously sonic songs with a wide variety of themes from personal reflection to politics.

The entire Ep, titled Vol. 1, is out now (click here), but check out “Flowers On The Fire Escape” below - the bongos really do it for me in this one.

Christine