Lava La Rue Finds Their Own Lesbian Anthem in 'Vest & Boxers'

Justin Moran
Thu, 27 Jan 2022 21:29:50 +0000
Vest & boxers, Lesbian anthem, Butter-fly ep, Nblw, Nonbinary, Lava la rue

Following 2021's Butter-Fly EP, Lava La Rue is stepping into the New Year with their latest release, "Vest & Boxers," a song written to reflect the dating experiences of queer youth, both from the West Londoner's perspective and of their fellow nonbinary/ NBLW (Nonbinary Loving Women) friends, as well.

"I reference all the little moments we joke about," they say. "Not knowing if you’re on a date or just meeting up as friends, walking into their bedroom for the first time and thinking how good it smells, not coming home for two days after the first night together and deciding to just move in. We were all guilty of it."

The song title is also a playful reference to what Lava La Rue calls their "dyke uniform," explaining that they'd wear a vest and boxers "under our baggy denim, oversized suits with the waist band showing as a little signal to all the ottheir gays in the room.”

For Lava La Rue, this entire effort was made to rethink our cultural relationship with queer anthems and who's behind them. As clubs have begun to open again, post-COVID, they've been "reminded with how many queer hits were made by straight pop icons that the gay community would re-appropriate to relate to their own lives."

They continue, "I love many of these songs, but much of it was EDM-focused to exist predominantly in clubs, as historically these were one of the only spaces LGBTQIA+ were represented. But obviously we exist outside of the clubs, too. We exist everywhere."

The result is their own take on a "lesbian anthem" with "punky energy," which Lava La Rue intends to be played in mosh pits or "angsty" house parties. And its music video further amplifies all these ideas.

Photo courtesy of Elif Gonen