New Music: Troye Sivan, Frank Ocean, BeBe Zahara Benet and More

New Music By Queer Artists for Your Rotation

Need a few extra bops to put in your rotation? Here are some new tracks to put in your weekend playlist. Whether they are new to the world, or just new to you, we've culled together five options we've come across this week.

"Working Class" by Joshua Ackley

You might be familiar with Joshua Ackley as he was the frontman for the punk band The Dead Betties and helped to form Teen Vice. Well, now the artist is back with a slightly new sound and going it alone.

"Working Class," released today as an exclusive with Out, is the first from his debut solo album, Dark Arts, created in a makeshift recording studio in his home after a skiing accident in 2018.

"'Working Class' is a song about being held in any sort of abusive relationship or situation because of financial dependency," Ackley said in a release. "Physical abuse and emotional abuse are both worst-case scenarios in any relationship, but how and why people wind up in, and stay in abusive relationships can be simple and nefarious... money. Whether it's experienced from a partner, spouse, or employer, financial control is a fairly common form of abuse, especially when you're considered working class."

"Take Yourself Home" by Troye Sivan

The Australian pop star is back and with the perfect social distancing track. "'Take Yourself Home' is one of my favorite songs I've ever written," Troye Sivan said in a statement. "The song is kind of a pep talk with yourself and the place you're from. Grappling with your place in the world. I write these songs as a diary entry, then as life and places change and relationships change, songs can take on a new meaning entirely. Clearly, that has happened for this song, with what is going on in the world right now."

The song is uber chill with a little dance break towards the end. A few weeks ago he said that he was "going rogue" to release the music. Hopefully, there's more on the way.

"Dear April (Side A - Acoustic)" by Frank Ocean

Fans of Frank Ocean are probably already laying in bed, surfing on the waves of two new releases from their favorite artist. Though versions of "Dear April" and "Cayendo" have been released before, the musician has now dropped the acoustic versions. It's not the Coachella performance we were promised but we will take what we can get!

Any way we can get that cover of Sza's "The Weekend" next?

"Banjo" by BeBe Zahara Benet

If you need something that's going to make you get up and move, the first crowned Drag Superstar has something for you. BeBe Zahara Benet's "Banjo, the lead single off of her upcoming EP Broken English, out April 24. The accompanying video features Daniel Franzese, Jai Rodriguez, Dexter Mayfield, and Miles David Moody.

"I wanted to flip the standard love song on its head," she said in a release. "'Banjo' is about someone who isn't impressed by cliche pick-up lines, flashes of wealth or smooth talk. I wanted a song that was a feel-good song about knowing who you are and being confident, dismissing anyone who isn't willing to approach you on your own terms. And when you look at the visuals, they're very colorful. It's a fusion. It definitely makes you want to move and dance."

"Vogue" by Black Fairy

Last month made 30 years of Madonna's hit "Vogue." The song, as well as the accompanying video and Blonde Ambition Tour, helped to bring the art of vogue to the fore. But since, many performers have integrated the ballroom scene into their music, the latest of whom is Black Fairy. While he just dropped a new album out today titled Fairytales & Fantasies, last week he went on viral on Twitter for the visual for his version of "Vogue" featuring members of the ballroom scene like Pusscee West and more.