I remember the first time I was introduced to Trixie Mattel, and I would go so far as to gather that most people can also recall their first encounter with Trixie. She’s almost impossible to miss with her incredibly high hair and campy fashion sense (fit for a queen, truly). But the first time I saw her, she was competing on the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2015. On the competition show, Trixie’s quick wit and ability to turn a phrase under pressure were admirable. She didn’t end up winning that season, but she would go on to win the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.
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And in between those two seasons of Drag Race, where she garnered much of her early fame, Trixie channeled her creativity through another passion of hers: music. In 2017, she released her debut studio album titled Two Birds. It’s an autobiographical breakup album (Trixie’s music often reads like a diary), and a country one at that. Fast forward, and Trixie has just dropped her fourth studio album. It’s titled The Blonde & Pink Albums, and thankfully, we caught up with the artist to chat about how it feels to be at this point in her career.
“I get less and less nervous about it,” Trixie tells American Songwriter about releasing each new album. “I’m proud of what I do… [I’m] writing the music I want to write, going to the studio and producing the way we want to make it. And then assemble it and do videos and photo shoots for it. I don’t try to overthink anything.”
With this musical maturity, Trixie explains that her The Blonde & Pink Albums is the “penultimate Trixie sound,” and it’s the longest body of work she’s put out to date. There are “folk pieces in there” which is Trixie’s sonic “home base.” Folk music is a comfortable soundscape for the artist, like putting on a pair of old blue jeans. For some context, Trixie was officially introduced to the craft of music by her grandfather, a country musician, who taught her to play the guitar at 13 years old in her hometown of Milwaukee. Trixie also goes by her legal name, Brian Firkus, when not in drag.
But there are also “more produced, retro-style tracks” on Trixie’s double album. Her “blonde” side has a flair for glitz and glamour. “Songs like ‘Hello Hello’ and ‘New Thing’ were almost written to be performed in drag,” she says, “through the lens of Trixie.”
It’s this back and forth between folkier music and more of a power-pop, girl group style that is the ultimate story of Trixie and Brian. “It’s always autobiographical,” Trixie says. “And I like to write in doubles because I’m obsessed with duality… I love everything having a partner and a mirror image.”
Thus, the double album is divided into two halves, and as the title suggests, the first seven songs are labeled The Blonde Album (roughly from Trixie’s point of view) while the second half is The Pink Album (roughly from Brian’s).
“They’re totally different albums,” Trixies says. “But to be honest, it was all written to go together. So if it all got mixed around in printing let’s say on accident, the vinyl comes out with songs skipped around, it’s not going to be glaring at one belongs on the other. They’re all meant to be experienced together because again, I’m obsessed with duality and companionship.”
As far as the individual songs on the record go, we’re obsessed with the elasticity of the bubblegum pop on “Love You in HiFi.” You also hear Trixie’s wild side on “Boyfriend,” and the blush palette-inspired track “New Thing” rounds out The Blonde Album an irresistible drum beat. And the flip side, we’re still trying to pick up our jaws after hearing the stunning featured artists Michelle Branch and Shakey Graves sing on “White Rabbit” and “This Town,” respectively.
It’s the perfect set of songs for any occasion, whether that be soundtracking your own Austin Powers moment or road tripping to your own hometown. And as for Trixie? She’s not going anywhere
“Every year my view and stand up changes because my relationship with the world changes,” she says. “I’m older, richer, dumber, or whatever… your point of view evolves because your life changes.”
We can’t argue with that.
Listen to The Blonde & Pink Albums HERE.
Photo courtesy of Shore Fire Media
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