By Barrett White
We’ve made it to June, and 2018 has proven to be a promising year in queer music. Still reeling from the late 2017 releases of Kelela’s Take Me Apart, St. Vincent’s Masseduction, and SOPHIE’s It’s OK to Cry, we were met this year with new bops by queer faves Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko.
Those may be the names you already know, but when homegrown talent rears its electronica-backed head, you ought to listen. In preparation for their freshman album, Houston transplant and non-binary artist Wade in the Sonic Joy released their first single, Lethality, in November 2017. A colorful kaleidoscope image of a person’s arched neck donning a choker graces the single’s album art. The song begins with a Róisín Murphy-esque intro, reminiscent of her Ruby Blue album. The lyrics ask the listener for passion and pleasure, but suggests, “don’t even think about it.”
The anticipated album, Sexspells, is due this fall. Production is more than halfway completed, but the process is slow, Wade explains. “Quartz Heart,” to be included in the set, has taken three years to perfect. The song is so personal, they say, that it’s like raising a child—each life experience requires an adjustment, a tweak.
Wade lists the Dresden Dolls and Bjork among their biggest influences—two bands that sound nothing alike, but offer much to their listeners in their own rights. “They’re some of my biggest influences when it comes to how much passion, anger, and honesty you can put into your songs, [as well as] being vulnerable and talking about your personal issues.”
Looking forward to their imminent album release, Wade offers: “I want my music to be uplifting pop music that’s fun and you can dance to it, but it has an honest and sad edge, like, ‘Oh, wow, I felt that.’ You can love all these different people, whether that’s family members, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, but you have to be prepared that all of this is temporary. It’s a bleak truth, but you have to enjoy that temporary time.”
“I want to be a voice for people, but I also want to be there to lift other people up.” -Wade in the Sonic Joy
Wade hopes to strike a chord with their transparency, not only with songs about love and loss, but with darker subject matters like struggles with mental health. “I’m very honest and candid about identity and mental health,” they say. “I would like, through my music and through gaining more footing in the music industry, to help people who are struggling with identity and mental health—especially queer people—because I feel like a lot of resources we have now, people don’t know that they’re available to them. There are some disenfranchised people who may not have access to them.”
Wade in the Sonic Joy is about the sound, the visuals, and the action. With their music at the forefront, they hope to band together with other local queer acts for community service and outreach, putting the health of queer and disenfranchised folks in the city first. “I’m hoping that, through my music, people can see themselves and know that they’re being heard,” Wade says. “I’m candid about my own experiences, but I also don’t want to silence other peoples’ experiences. I want to be a voice for people, but I also want to be there to lift other people up.”
For more on Wade in the Sonic Joy, find them on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Instagram.
