“Our government gave homophobes a platform to hate, and it was a really terrible time for a lot of queer people throughout Australia.”
It’s so totally cliché to say, but we’re gonna say it: Sam Bluer is a name you’ll be hearing a lot more of in the future.

The Aussie performer made his music industry debut this year with two fantastic dark-pop tracks, Shift and Body High, the latter of which literally catapulted our wigs down the motherfucking street. The lyrics! The production! The video! We live!

To celebrate the release of his brand new clip, we got him on the phone and spoke about, well, everything: Boy George, privilege, homophobia in Australia, his obsession with Charli XCX, and coming out. Enjoy!

The 26-year-old pop singer may have sold out her tour, released her most anticipated work yet, and expanded her fan base, but she's still banking on a bigger future.

Alec Benjamin has worn the same outfit multiple days in a row, he admits when we sit down to chat at New York’s buzzing Soho House one afternoon this spring. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter isn’t overly concerned with fashion; he just likes what he likes, and when he figures out something that works, he sticks with it. “I’m a very OCD person,” he says. “I’ll do one thing to complete exhaustion.”

That’s been true for his music, too. Pop trends come and go, but Benjamin, who’s best known for his viral hit “Let Me Down Slowly”, committed early on to absolute sincerity. In the tradition of pop storytellers like Taylor Swift and thoughtful songwriters like John Mayer, he’s built a brand of contemporary earnestness, layered over bulletproof pop balladry. Here, in this slick environment, a wide-eyed Benjamin seems a little out of place in his low-key sweatshirt, jeans, sneakers and tousled hair; you wouldn’t know he was a platinum-selling artist. But as the DJ in the corner ups the volume of his jazzy set, Benjamin settles in for the conversation, and any self-consciousness fades away. He’s not the type of guy who worries about keeping up appearances.

Nine years ago, Greyson Chance became a viral sensation after his sixth-grade performance of Lady Gaga’s 2009 pop anthem, Paparazzi, was uploaded to YouTube.
After receiving widespread attention, heaps of acclaim (and a phone call from Gaga), the singer-songwriter – who was just 12-years-old at the time – was invited to appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and subsequently became a household name in the United States. In the same year, Greyson released his first single Waiting Outside the Lines – produced by Christina Aguilera’s mentor, Ron Fair – which was shortly followed by his pop-rock influenced debut studio album, Hold On ’til the Night. Imagine doing all of that before you hit your teens?

“I had to go through the ringers of the music industry at a very young age,” says Greyson. “I am just so blessed for my parents. I have an amazing mom and dad and they supported me through it the entire time, but there were a lot of pros and cons to it.” In subsequent years, Greyson released multiple EPs and a number of standalone singles – including Meridians, Back on the Wall and Lighthouse – but later decided that he wasn’t cut out for the industry. “I didn’t really see a path or trajectory for myself moving forward in music. Throughout adolescence, I knew I was good at music, but I don’t think I understood the weight of this being my path, my purpose. I became so beat down in the industry and so many people closed the door on me and said, ‘Listen, you’ve had your moment, that’s it.'”

Christine & The Queens' Héloïse Letissier believes pop can tackle LGBTQ subjects ''without being questioned''.

The 30-year-old singer - who identifies as pansexual, meaning she is attracted to a person regardless of their sex or gender identity - feels the music industry has always been progressive but she thinks it's becoming ''more nuanced'' and more able to discuss in depth issues surrounding sexuality and gender.