Queen Anne: Another Perfect Single
Lexi Loves Me is out today and it's another perfectly worked single.
There is almost too much talent in Americana right now. It’s almost as though they’re doing it just to keep me at the typewriter one more hour. That’s how it feels.
I first became aware of Queen Anne, fronted by vocalist Katie Silverman, in the spring. They had released their debut, Real Enough, and were yet to release their Bowie tribute, Let’s Dance, which has been re-imagined and is almost unrecognisable in terms of the music and production. The look and sound of Katie calls to mind Sophie Ellis-Bextor for British eyes / ears.
I have been listening to today’s single, Lexi Loves Me, for weeks now. This is a subtle song, orchestral and cinematic in places. And a vinyl static crackle, even on streaming. Dare I say that it sounds English? I am reminded of niche indie outfit Black Box Recorder also. Katie is a talented actor as well as a natural singer.
If there was any doubt about how serious these people are, while still being self-deprecating, read their own words about themselves.
Queen Anne is a concept. it's an ideal. above all, it's an indie band. Queen Anne aspires to make noises in exactly the right order and combination, so that they sound like "music." at the same time, Queen Anne aspires to be liberated from the illusion of linear time. we can't always achieve our aspirations. but we can eat Boxed Soup™. yum.
Each of the three Queen Anne songs I have heard are different from each other, catchy and memorable. They’re doing something new and exciting. I just love it when a band makes a cover song that is unquestionably new and different, and original. Nobody will say this Let’s Dance is better than Bowie. Except me.
It turns out that Lexi Loves Me is a much deeper song than it seems at first listen. While accepting, and no doubt encouraging, that you will form your own meanings for the music you listen to, this is what Queen Anne’s Katie Silverman had to say about it.
“All my music is open to interpretation, because I can't really enforce what people take away from it. But 'Lexi Loves Me,' in particular, is more about that sick, desperate feeling in the pit of your stomach than the specifics of the relationship or the expired sushi that brought you there. To me, the song is about a person pulling away from a relationship because they're having a metaphorical affair with their own mental health, because those are the kinds of things that have been on my mind. But “Lexi” could also totally be a real human person with a body and everything. I'm not going to rule that out.”
I love that these young folk are able to think so deeply and with such wisdom about the world we all live in, AD 2025. I find that I learn more from Gen Z and Millennial singers than I do from the dinosaurs I grew up listening to. The best part is that my heroes are quite often their heroes too, and there is a clear genealogical line through recent music history.
You can find out more about Queen Anne, the best band you have yet to hear, on Instagram and on their own website. You can also buy and stream on Bandcamp.
