Playlist: Fresh Off The Press - Pride (June 2025)
To celebrate Pride 2025, we're showcasing music from standout artists of the LGBTQA+ community.
By Sara Hamza
This month, we're celebrating the LGBTQ+ community with a mix of songs that uplift and inspire.
Music and pride can evoke an intertwined collective effervescence. It’s the beating heart of the community, it's what allows us to show up as we are and bop to the same beat. The following artists are selected from different genres and backgrounds, introducing us to what pride means to them. Happy Pride my friends! :) - Sara Hamza
The Ophelias - SPRING GROVE
Indie rock, alternative, whatever you’d like to call it, the once notoriously male-dominated genre has broken out from its gatekeepers and brought forth a swell of queer music with The Ophelias rising to the forefront. Spring Grove, the name of a cemetery in Cincinnati, perhaps an homage to their roots, but a strong metaphor for the themes of loss and growth that permeate throughout the record.
Released on the queer and trans owned record label Get Better Records a atmospheric sound constructed from fast breakbeat fusing into the loud reverbed guitar that is contrasted by halcyonic violins. Produced by Julien Baker, you can hear the influences of Baker’s dolorous sound in the track Cumulonimbus.
Chinese Medicine - THE TRANS AGENDA
Punk is the cathartic abrasion blasting through your eardrums, the conviction that tells you to live your life the way you want to. Punk is unapologetically queer something Toronto’s Chinese Medicine is reminding us. Released on Twin Fang Records, the band’s second EP The Trans Agenda, delivers the punchy riffs and thrashing drums reminiscent of 80s punk bands like Tribe 8 and The Queers bringing that cathartic anguish that makes you want to jump into the pit. If you’re looking for something to break up the monotony of your usual rotation, this is it.
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains
The sense of belonging that is embedded into the LGBT community is rooted in love and acceptance derived from a violent history. Originating as a protest against the status quo, we march in parades to commemorate the past that was made through the sacrifices of queer and trans lives. Polaris prize winner, Backxwash, visits these themes in her latest record, Only Dust Remains. Zambian-born Montreal living rapper and producer Backxwash is illuminating the political trauma and isolation experienced as black trans woman. Self-released her own label Ugly Hag, this album expresses elements of adversity that are still experienced within the trans community today. The record is blatant with its lyricism tied with primal chants and a heavy metal drumbeat is also poised with a final track composed of choral hymns and gentler sounds that tend to a spiritual sound. The reminder that through the darkest of times you're never truly alone.
CJ Wiley - So Brand New
Released on Tiny Kingdom Music, So Brand New brings a new angle to the working class blue jeans anthems with themes of identity and queer love. Pulling from Americana influences with the twanged guitars and throughout the record. A polished record ready for the next queer line dancing event or a summery afternoon at a park.
Dua Saleh - I Should Call Them
Sudanese American artist and actor Dua Saleh brings a new wave of Club bangers on her newest record I Should Call Them. The record is a myriad of genres bending through RnB to pop to trap with elements of gospel sprinkled throughout; discovering something new with each listen.
Header artwork by Bree Rawn.