Terry Blade - Neo Queer
Terry Blade is a singer/songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. Blade’s work features his real-life experiences as a black queer artist while his music features the sounds of Soul, R&B, Jazz and Blues with hints of Indie and Folk. We have previously listened to Terry Blade’s EP Misery (Mastered for Headphones) and the album American Descendant of Slavery, The Album. Today we are excited to share our thoughts on Blade’s latest work, the album Neo Queer.
Neo Queer begins with “Elephant”, which features some Hip-Hop and R&B vibes. The track walks us through some of Blade’s history as a queer and intelligent Black man as well as other people’s observations of him. Ultimately, he concludes “I do me for the Hell of it”, showing us how Blade is unafraid to be himself in a world that can be unkind. “Let It Go” follows and slows things down in a very appealing way. This track features my favorite instrumental on the entire album and I feel as though it helps create an atmosphere that perfectly blends with Blade’s lyrics. “Eaten Alive” is the third track and it returns to a Hip-Hop vibe. Blade’s flow is impressive and catchy with a very subdued instrumental providing the perfect platform for this vocal performance to shine. These first three songs give us great examples of the important topics in Terry Blade’s songs as well as the diversity of sound featured within his music.
“Same O Love” is up next and I adore this song’s jazzy Soul feel. This song shares the thought that sometimes, no matter how you feel about someone, they simply cannot change, a relatable topic that hits pretty hard. You can feel the pain and passion in Terry Blade’s voice throughout this song which really brings the lyrics to life. An intermission titled “You Don’t Know” follows and even in a brief track like this, Blade’s songwriting shines through. “All Ways” is the sixth song from Neo Queer and it is yet another beautifully written and performed Soul-inspired track. Blade’s lyrics are so genuine as he pours his heart out to the one he loves while offering his unconditional love. “Moment” follows” and further slows things down while maintaining the kind of emotions shared in “All Ways”. There is a point in this track where Blade’s vocals pans between the left and right headphone - undoubtedly one of my favorite moments on this album. These four tracks exhibit Terry Blade’s passion and how he clearly communicates his feelings, all the while building brilliant soundscapes around them.
The eighth track from Neo Queer is “Elixir” which is a very tender, soft and passionate song. The vocal harmonies are a big highlight of this track, offering a delicate layer of beauty to the track that I wholeheartedly enjoy. Lyrically, the song is quite passionate and continues the trend of songs toward the middle-end of this album. “Blue”, which features Charlie J, is next and at four minutes and eleven seconds it is the longest track from Neo Queer. The synth-y bass in the backing track pairs well with Blade’s deep vocals. Further, Charlie J’s rap vocals really bring the entire track together, both from a lyrical perspective and from just a raw listening perspective; I really enjoy the distinct contrast between Terry Blade and Charlie J’s vocals and would love to hear Blade mix it up with other artists like this in the future. The “Elem Version” of “Silent Treatment” closes out the album on a strong note. In a lot of ways this feels like a quintessential Terry Blade song; a lo-fi backing instrumental with some sweet R&B vibes and absolutely killer lyrics with a deep meaning. I feel as though this was the perfect song to close out Neo Queer and it truly shows us Terry Blade at his best.
Terry Blade is a one of a kind artist who is unafraid to bare his soul - his very existence and all of his experiences - in his music. His singing voice is incredibly distinctive and his genre-blending melodic work serves to further communicate the genuine emotions that he puts into his songs. Blade deserves a bigger following; he covers many topics across his entire body of work and I am able to empathize and understand Blade’s commentary on mental health as well as quite a bit of his words about love - as I believe love is universal - but even when Blade is singing about things I am unfamiliar with like blackness and queerness, I feel like I am gaining important perspective and learning meaningful lessons.
I think that Terry Blade is doing some important things with his music and I believe you will too. Make sure that you keep up with Terry Blade through his Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages. We have Neo Queer embedded below - take a listen!
