Culture

As spring draws near, there’s no better time to freshen up your season playlists with some new tunes from your favorite queer artists. Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.

From Charlotte Day Wilson’s gorgeous new single to Hurray for the Riff Raff’s K, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:

Charlotte Day Wilson, “I Don’t Love You”

Throughout Charlotte Day Wilson’s new single “I Don’t Love You” — the first offering off her upcoming album Cyan Blue — the singer-songwriter presents a sobering meditation on the healing power of heartbreak. Suffused with deconstructed production elements, slow-grooving bass lines and distorted background vocals filling the backend like a chorus of ghostly past lovers, Wilson commands your attention with a wistful vocal, resonating with soul-shaking emotion on every single note. Don’t let the song’s title fool you; you’re going to “Love” Wilson’s moving new single.

Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Past Is Still Alive

Leave it to folk purveyor Alynda Segarra — better known as Hurray for the Riff Raff — to release their best album more than 15 years into their career. The Past Is Still Alive, the star’s ninth studio album, stands alone as a triumph in its production, performance and songwriting and practically every other metric. This thoughtful, 11-song opus sees Segarra incorporating folk, rock, Americana and jazz into an elegy of what could have been, a sobering look at the way things are now, and a prayer for that which has yet to come.

Towa Bird, “B.I.L.L.S.”

The end of the month is coming up fast, which means you’ve likely got some payments to make. If you’re dreading the mere thought of your banks statement, then Towa Bird’s “B.I.L.L.S.” is the song for you. The rollicking new anthem flips a massive middle finger in the face of late capitalism, bemoaning our money-fueled reality. With fiery guitars and a chant-along chorus, Bird will have you declaring that you’re just as “tired of life’s expense” as she is.

King Isis, “MONKI”

If you’re still in need of an outlet for your inner angst, allow King Isis to help. “MONKI,” the singer’s latest single, is an impactful melodic track that firmly takes up its own space, regardless of whether or not it’s “supposed” to. Defiant, but without overt aggression, King Isis lets her impressive voice do the heavy lifting, as she chants a tongue-in-cheek incantation to her would-be oppressor: “Spare me from those awful sounds/ Oh baby, can he save you now?”

Cavetown, Little Vice

When figuring out where to go next with his music, Robin Skinner — known to his fans as indie star Cavetown — decided to mix the old and the new. The product of that experiment is Little Vice, a 5-track new EP from the singer-songwriter that sees Cavetown tackling the emotionally resonant topics his fans have come to expect with intriguing sonic twists. While each new track delivers the soft-spoken, carefully-written verses fans have come to expect, they also each come with unique left turns, from distorted guitars (“Alone”) to glitching vocals (“The Back of the Moon”). For 15 minutes, Little Vice asks you to embrace capriciousness — and after listening, you’ll agree that it’s 15 minutes well spent.

Monét X Change, “Body”

With her new single “Body,” Drag Race star Monét X Change is ready to show you the love you’ve been waiting for with a down-tempo R&B jam. Bursting with lush instrumentation (drums, bass and guitars are joined by an entire string section throughout the track), “Body” sees Monét leaning all the way into romance as her sonorous voice declares that she’s done chasing one-night-stands. Based on this fabulous new song, we won’t be looking for a one-night-stand with X Change’s music, either — there’s never been a better time to commit to this drag superstar as a recording artist on the verge of a breakthrough.

Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below: