“I’m just curious, is it serious?” Hayley Kiyoko questioned
on breakout hit Curious earlier this
year. It’s a song about a girl masking her queer identity, something the
accompanying video makes plain: a young woman at a house party with her male
partner, while simultaneously flirting with Kiyoko. It’s fun and frothy and
flirty, but we’ve come a long way since the days of Katy Perry dipping her toe
into queer culture with I Kissed A Girl.
For Kiyoko, this is serious.
‘Expectations’, her debut album, is a bold statement of pride
and queer romance. She only wishes others would follow suit. “I only want a
girl who ain’t afraid to love me,” she sings on What I Need alongside fellow queer singer Kehlani, “Not a metaphor
of what we could be.” On Sleepover she
pines for a friend who’s unaware of her feelings: “Sleeping here right next to
me, but will you ever mess with me?” Later on He’ll Never Love You she pointedly questions “Girl, why can’t you just
be honest – with yourself?”
Above all, though, Kiyoko’s aim is to normalise queer relationships
in music. Most of the songs on ‘Expectations’ detail the sort of romantic
struggles we all face, whatever your sexuality. On Wanna Be Missed she craves a lover who “can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t
breathe without [her]”, while on Feelings
she apologises to her crush for having such strong feelings. Her songs are
all delivered through catchy electro-pop with a dark R&B edge –
contemporary and chart-friendly, she flits between cute flirtations and a
harder, more urgent sexual desire. The only difference with most other popstars is
her use of female pronouns.
On a couple of tracks she really does get serious, though. Mercy / Gatekeeper deals with depression
as Kiyoko draws on her experience of Post-Concussion Syndrome after suffering a
fall and concussion on her 25th birthday, the song’s latter half switching
tack into a dreamy finale of yearning for the light at the end of the tunnel. The
sexy, atmospheric Under The Blue / Take
Me In has a similar two-part structure, Sapphic imagery sung over its waves
of ecstatic synths, watery effects and bubbling bass. Both tracks are
reminiscent of Timberland’s production on ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds’ – lengthy,
two-part epic tracks that take pop seriously.
The album eventually ends on a downer – the moody Molecules and the more conventional Let It Be – but until then, ‘Expectations’
is a celebration of queer female love. Kiyoko’s fans have dubbed her ‘Lesbian
Jesus’ and here she’s delivered her gay gospel. At the start of the year she
declared it “#20GAYTEEN”. With the release of ‘Expectations’ that’s surely true
– this album will be heard all year long.
4/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
* What I Need
* Under The Blue / Take Me In
* Curious
Listen: ‘Expectations’ is out now.
