Cowboy boots and bolo ties are all the rage right now and, thankfully, like a rhinestone capelet swaying in the breeze, music isn’t far behind with its reappraisal of the country genre, spearheaded by queer artists and women. But this is not the first time the genre has been subverted; 27 years ago, fan of soft tailoring and lowercase letters kd lang released Constant Craving, a song so suggestive of lesbian longing that it became the sapphic anthem for unrequited love.
As one of the first openly gay lesbians in pop – she came out, against her label’s wishes and into a deeply conservative country genre, in an interview with the Advocate in 1992 – Lang never shied away from incorporating her identity into her music. Her album, Ingénue, about an unrequited love for a married woman, was not only a multiplatinum hit, but a cultural milestone for LGBT issues, raising them into the mainstream cultural conversation. Crisp suits, a teddy boy haircut and the voice of an angel; even Madonna couldn’t resist. “Elvis is alive … and she’s beautiful,” she said at the time.
Unwittingly, Lang had subverted an entire genre just by being uncompromising in herself. Of her androgyny, she told the Advocate: “It’s just my natural response to how I fit in society – how I feel comfortable, how I feel confident. If I had to wear high heels and a dress, I would be a mental case.” But because she wasn’t traditionally feminine-looking, and because she was a lesbian, at a time when being an openly gay woman was desperately uncool, she became a punchline. In an episode of Will & Grace, Jack exclaims: “kd lang, you are a lesbian!”; the butt of a joke that really wasn’t funny.
History has a way of repeating itself, only with a more open mind. Lang’s influence on a new generation has breached the cultural surface, but this time it’s gayer with more fringing. Orville Peck’s identity might be concealed behind his mask but the openly gay musician is pushing the boundaries of country. Signed to Sub Pop, the musician uses male pronouns, singing about his former lovers on Big Sky: a biker, a boxer, a jailer in the Florida Keys. In Turn to Hate, he yearns: “Tell me you can stay / Don’t leave, don’t cry / You’re just another boy caught in the rye”. Country’s biggest crossover star, Grammy-winning Brandi Carlile, meanwhile, channels Lang’s fearlessness into her music, utilising her own “super queer perspective” on modern family anthem Party of One.
In July, Lang’s world tour to celebrate a quarter of a century of Ingénue finally reaches the UK, where she’ll return to a more accepting musical landscape she helped create. It’s about time we listened to her songs of love and desire – two timeless emotions – with fresh ears.
