Rainbow Ruckus 5/8: Abigail Austin, Lily Rose, Shamir, and More!

This week's Rainbow Ruckus features incredible singers, bitter exes, rejecting motherhood, new wave covers, and more!

Rainbow Ruckus 5/8: Abigail Austin, Lily Rose, Shamir, and More!
Shamir

Every week, Rainbow Rodeo brings you the best new queer country music! Listen to this playlist on Spotify and Tidal! Thanks to Elliott for making a parallel list on Apple Music! Listen to the parallel list on Tidal. Missed a week? TA Inskeep is generously keeping an archive of all music featured on this Spotify playlist.

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First up, we've got a track that is only on YouTube: Abigail Austin's first release under her name. The song is a cover of Polish hardcore punk band Post Regiment. Austin spins up an intensely foreboding synth rock churner – a machine that grinds to a halt at the crescendo of Austin's unearthly voice.

  • Lily Rose gets real on "Seein' Blue." The intense rocker gets into that specific heartache when you're at the bar and see your ex with their new person. The song itself, though, is much more intense than any of Rose's previous output, with both anger and unreserved sensuality that now sounds like the missing piece to go along with Rose's killer voice.
  • On "Mama Run," Naomi Westwater asks what happens if you don't want to be a mother. Just in time for Mother's Day, it's an important question to ask: is it really so bad to want something else out of love? Westwater brings a gentle contemplation to this vital question.
  • "Feels Good" unfurls with languorous ease, a seductive and mournful call from Mary-Charlotte Young. Lose yourself in the groove and revel in Young's unique voice.
  • Shamir envelopes us in warmth even as he expresses apprehension on "Neverwannago." The jangly rocker finds the narrator betwixt and between, homesick but avoiding an awkward situationship.