CQ Roundup with Hayden Joseph, Ana Egge, Pelvis Wrestley and more
By Christopher Treacy

Affirmations. We all need them. Modern life hijacks our best thinking and, if we’re not diligent, leads us down the wrong paths. It’s perfectly human. So we need reminders. If we hang them in our minds like signposts, we stand a better chance of staying the course. It’s only complicated if we make it so. Just keep hanging the signposts and before long, you’ll just see them there, gently guiding you back to the path.
Meanwhile? This week’s Roundup is on fire.
-CT
Song of the Week: Ana Egge – “Heart Is a Mirror”
“We’ve all got to be what we wanna see/There’s never gonna be a way to make it easy.”
Brooklyn’s Ana Egge returns this week with brand new music and it speaks to a universal need for greater understanding of something so simple, yet something so many seem to have left behind: you get back what you put in. Doing what’s right isn’t always the easy choice, but it’s the better choice—the choice that keeps positive energy flowing through all of us. Egge is reminding us that we can’t expect our world to change if we’re not actively embodying that change. Half measures don’t cut it. Indeed, our hearts are mirrors, so let yours reflect the values you want to feel and experience as you go through life and it’ll come back to you… to all of us. Or don’t, but if that’s your choice, perhaps you should temper your expectations about how your neighbors treat you in return. (Insert shrug emoji).
“Heart Is a Mirror” continues down the road of experimentation with pop textures that Egge’s been exploring in recent years and you can hear the residual glow coming through her vocal performance—she’s enjoying this. She’s also been working on a new full length record. If this is a taste of what’s to come, we’re in for a treat.
From the accompanying info: Ana Egge’s single, “Heart Is a Mirror” is a labor of love and affirmation. Inspired by the lifework of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., it sings about how only light can drive out darkness and asserts that if we would change the world, we must change ourselves. Since her multi-million streaming “We Are One,” Ana has regularly purposed her talents in the service of songs of uplift. It’s profoundly personal for Ana, and she has crafted “Heart Is a Mirror” with some her most cherished collaborators – co-writer Gary Nicholson, producer Lorenzo Wolff, instrumentalist Alec Spiegelman, and string arranger Rob Moose.
Kara Jackson – “pawnshop”
Jackson’s knack for wordplay is sharp as a tack in the advance tracks for her debut full length, Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?, out April 14 on the September label. The Chicago-based former National Youth Poet Laureate is not playing, using evocative imagery for yet another declarative tune about reaffirming self worth in the wake of being treated like shit. Like the startlingly awesome “dickhead blues” before it, “pawnshop” examines the equation fairly, asking important questions about remaining complicit in bad relationships—who are we to each other (and to the world) when we’re playing these roles? Does this forever define who we are, or is it just in the moment? Jackson leaves us to draw our own conclusions, but she’s sounding pretty sure of her own value these days.
Pelvis Wrestley – “Keep on Running”
Benjamin Violet’s new-ish Americana-tinged project is a queer amalgam, taking a glammy, theatrical visual approach and applying it to a synth-pop sound that takes a sharp turn down south. The results reference Bowie while also emulating genre-defying artists of the 80s like Lloyd Cole, Wall of Voodoo… maybe even Guadalcanal Diary with a pinch of Pet Shop Boys and a dash of Rocky Horror. It’s very much off on its own musical tangent, and “Keep On Running” has a killer, rib-sticking refrain that mirrors the stubborn sentiments expressed therein. Pelvis Wrestley is a curious reflection of the creative melting pot that Violet’s home of Austin TX has become, something that—much like Violet in the accompanying video and the overall theme of the song—keeps changing and refuses to sit still. The band’s debut, Vortexas Vorever, arrives March 21 from Earth Libraries.
Hayden Joseph – “Prove Me Wrong”
Ye of little faith. Joseph lets his inner cynic loose on “Prove Me Wrong,” a country-pop bop that’s super easy on the ears, but he leaves the door open for love to triumph. Along the way, he raises an interesting question: do we cheat ourselves out of true love (and other good fates) by planning what our lives need to look like and only pursuing things that match that vision? Go on, now – prove him wrong!
Adam Mac – “Take Myself Home”
Mac’s back with this new groove and it’s anthemic AF with a message of individuality and inner strength. While the rest get hung up on posing for potential suitors, Mac’s there for the vibe… to look good and feel good, and that latter part is coming from within. He’s ‘dancing with myself.’ No need for the hookup, thanks—he got himself to the club all on his own power and he can take himself home.
Jim Andralis – “Cardigan (Jim’s Version)”
For anyone that’s ever felt like a cardigan, left under someone’s bed… Which is apparently quite a few of us, given the amount of queer resonance with which this Tay Tay track is regarded. Andralis bring a queer quiver to his vocal, making this entirely “Jim’s Version,” while also flipping the gender script. If anything, I find the song more inhabitable this way.
50′♀ – “(I Want You to Fuck Me) Sunday Morning”
From In The Raw: Live from the Magpie Cage, out today, this amusing ditty speaks to the humdrum of adulting and how we can all use some down time that’s up time… or something like that. Those of us that’ve reached a certain age can likely identify, with misty-eyed reflection, an earlier time in our lives when we were able to throw cares aside for (what then seemed like) more pressing concerns. This track celebrates that notion that we can go back… even if only for Sunday morning. Or, maybe both Sunday and Monday morning. Or until one of us pulls a leg muscle.
Christopher Treacy has been writing about music and the music industry for 20 years. He’s contributed to The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Herald, Nashville Scene, and Berklee College of Music’s quarterly journal, as well as myriad LGBTQ+ outlets including the Edge Media Network, Between the Lines/Pride Source, Bay Windows and In Newsweekly. He’s the Managing Editor for CQ and lives in Waitsfield, VT.
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