Harry Strange has returned with a double single at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, in partnership with GAY TIMES.
‘Bite The Hand’ and ‘Kind of Love’ were created with his co-collaborators and best friends Jamie Clarke (Sfven) and Duncan Brookfield.
The tracks present a tangent from the usual explorations of queer love and heartbreak to focus on childhood relationships with his father. Strange is known for being “open” and “honest” through his lyrics as he’s “always written how he feels”.
The London-based artist tells GAY TIMES: “I think part of this comes from a privileged position of having such a supportive network around me that has celebrated queerness and made it feel so normal. I want to be as open and honest in my writing.”
Inserting queer lyrics into his discography has never been forced, rather his portfolio acts as reportage of his lived experience: “I’m more drawn to the emotions of falling for someone or losing someone over the fact that the ‘someone’ happens to be a guy?”
Akin to his unapologetic approach in presenting queerness through music, is his own “queer role model” and frequently played artist Omar Apollo: “It all feels very genuine and even as he’s risen in popularity he’s kept true to what he’s always done and created great projects.”
Photo: Caity Krone
LGBTQIA+ representation in music has long acted as a time capsule to preserve stories and history from the community that can often be “lost” or under-reported.
“So many stories have been lost over time due to lack of acceptance so the documentation of lived LGBTQIA+ stories through art is so important to not only preserve but also to teach others of queer history and matters,” he continues.
“Frank Ocean named his club night PrEP+ back in 2019 to spread awareness of prep and to pay tribute to the gay club scene that was eradicated due to the AIDS crisis – this is just a small example of a much larger picture of using music and art as a means of preserving queer history and queer matters.”
This is a legacy that Strange aims “to contribute” and “to support” throughout his career.
Watch Harry Strange’s performance of ‘Bite the Hand’ and ‘Kind of Love’.
Harry is the next exciting edition to be presented from the Abbey Road Equalise for Pride, a series of exclusive performance films in association with GAY TIMES that illuminate a diverse range of queer voices across music and the wider creative arts.
The series will continue spotlighting emerging artists in music and the creative arts through performances and interviews filmed at Abbey Road and Angel Studios.
Equalise for Pride continues Abbey Road Studios’ history and vision of celebrating creativity and queer expression. You can catch up with the series so far with Baby Queen’s performance of ‘Dream Girl’, L Devine’s performance of new single ‘Slippin Away’, Tom Rasmussen’s live rendition of ‘Street Violence’ and Charles & Brother Zulu new single ‘Boyfriend’.
Icons who have previously recorded at Abbey Road Studios include The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Amy Winehouse, Little Simz, Adele, Brockhampton, Sam Smith and Florence + The Machine.
“Over the last four years, Abbey Road Equalise has sought to inspire and empower under-represented groups exploring a career in music,” said Mark Robertson, Head of Brand & Communications.
“We’ve presented free workshops and mentoring, filmed studio sessions and more, whether via our annual events for International Women’s Day or a special event for International Transgender Day of Visibility in 2021.”
Harmony Marsh, Digital Manager and member of Universal Music’s Pride Network, added: “We’re delighted to present this series of intimate performance films during Pride season, to serve as an homage to remarkable artists and a profound embrace of their queer identities.
“Our intention for the series has been to celebrate these artists foremost for their brilliance, whilst also shining a light on their queerness and personal journeys as LGBTQ+ individuals.”
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