2019’s hidden musical gems reviewed: Dorian Electra, Queen Zee, Kim Petras

Dorian Electra Flamboyant

There is a lot going on here: cracking whip sounds, grinding electric guitar, robotic vocals atop synth chord flourishes. At one point, I’m pretty sure there’s a flash of lightning. Essentially, Flamboyant is one of the queerest, catchiest, most maximalist pop tracks of the decade. I recommend watching the video, though: the Sharpie-moustached musician hops from sparkling gown to red silk kimono to cream faux fur with all the energy of someone who lives for Christmas party season.

Jimi Somewhere 1st Place

We are now at this weird stage when the artists whom Frank Ocean and Odd Future influenced, such as

Kevin Abstract and his band Brockhampton, are now influencing an even younger generation, like this 21-yearold green-haired dude from Norway. 1st Place is Jimi’s best-known track and it’s hard to pin down: honey-sweet vocals, pop-punk jangles, cinematic production. Will he become as big as his predecessors? Fingers crossed.

Kim Petras Icy

I dare you to listen to Kim Petras’s Icy without immediately deleting every

picture of you and your ex online before giving yourself a weird haircut in the mirror and booking a holiday to Ibiza for a week, alone. Icy is as every good post-break up song should be: overly dramatic, bittersweet in tone and with a soaring, synth-y chorus that you can cry along to, but in a sexy way.

Queen Zee Loner

The bad news is: Queen Zee broke up. The Liverpool five-piece are no more, and they’d barely even began. The good news is: they’ve got lots of good tracks! That includes this one, Loner, which sounds like the soundtrack to a 90s stoner sitcom with a video that looks as if it were custom-made for MTV2. We all think we’re loners, obviously, but not everybody can write a throwback garage rock anthem like this about it.

Amyl and the Sniffers Got You

One look at Melbourne punk band Amyl and the Sniffers – all lip snarls and untreated, ratty mullets – and you’d think they were actually from 1979 and might question why people were randomly talking about them now. But they’ve been around since 2016; the hedonistic 70s are just their shtick. Got You fits in with that: messy riffs that sit somewhere between the Runaways and the Stooges. The only difference is that you’re more likely to see these guys on your Instagram feed than at CBGB.