New releases from Christine and the Queens and Slate

Whether you worship at a drag club or the tabernacle, we're all across your new music. Here's the latest from Julia Mason.

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Artist: Christine and the Queens

Track: True Love (feat. 070 Shake)

Photo Jasa Muller

The origins of an artist’s name can at times be inspirational in itself.

Such is the case with Christine and the Queens, emphasising the importance of the experience with Madame Jojo's drag club in London: "These drag artists have become my friends, they've inspired my creativity. They gave me the idea of creating a character, inventing another silhouette, another way of being in this world. Before it was a musical project, Christine was for me the answer to how to live properly. The Queens in Christine and the Queens is my tribute to them. Without the queens, I wouldn't be here."

Christine and the Queens have released new single True Love featuring 070 Shake. It’s the second single to taken from the new album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE, which is set for release on 9 June on Because Music. The album is written, performed, and produced by Christine and the Queens, with co-production by Mike Dean (Lana Del Rey, Beyoncé) and will feature guest appearances from Madonna as well as 070 Shake.

True love is a beautiful emotive track with its electronic beats and swirling synths. And of course the unique vocal, distinct and crystal clear. At almost six minutes it envelops the listener. Just stop and listen: “Angel of light take me higher, You make me forget my mother. With your dark eyes staring at me.”

There will be numerous opportunities to see Christine and the Queens live this year. He will curate the Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre between 9 - 18 June 2023, closing the festival with two sold-out headline performances. He will be performing a number of festivals worldwide, including Glastonbury, Primavera in Barcelona and Madrid and headline slots at Roskilde in Denmark, Wilderness in the UK alongside his official UK tour across September.

Christine and the Queens - Live appearances announced to date:

4/17 - San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s

4/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre

4/23 - Indio, CA @ Coachella

5/19 - São Paulo, Brazil @ C6 Fest, Ibirapuera Park

5/28 - Saint-Brieuc, France @ Art Rock

6/02 - Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Barcelona

6/06 - Lyon, FR @ Nuits de Fourvière

6/09 - Madrid, Spain @ Primavera Madrid

6/11 - Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival

6/17-18 - London, UK @ Meltdown Festival

6/25 - Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival

6/28 - Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er Festival

6/30 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival

7/02 - Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter Festival

7/05 - Montreux, CH @ Montreux Jazz Festival

7/06 - Luxembourg @ Neumünster Abbey

7/11 - Québec, CA @ Festival d’Été de Québec

8/05 - Cornbury Park, UK @ Wilderness Festival

8/13 - Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival

8/18 - Charleville-Mézières, FR @ Cabaret Vert

8/25 - Paris, France @ Rock en Seine

8/27 - Torino, IT @ Todays Festival

9/6 - Birmingham, UK @ Symphony Hall

9/7 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall

9/8 - Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall

9/10 - Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia Theatre

9/12 - Bruxelles, BE @ Cirque Royal

9/13 - Zurich, CH @ Unique Moments Landesmuseum

9/14 - Berlin, DE @ Verti Music Hall

9/16 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega

11/17 - Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg

11/20 - Lyon, FR @ Le Radiant

11/21 - Toulouse, FR @ Le Bikini

11/23 - Marseille, FR @ Le Silo

11/25 - Lille, FR @ L'Aeronef

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Artist: Slate

Track: Tabernacl

Photo Sam Stevens

Cardiff four-piece Slate have released their debut single Tabernacl. A blend of the drama of Bambara and vocal and instrumentation of Fontaines D.C. it’s a mightily impressive debut. Produced by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard's Tom Rees, the atmosphere is encapsulated in the soundscape; and it makes total sense to learn that the single was inspired by a drive in the middle of night, by vocalist Jack Shepard and drummer Raychi Bryant through endless country roads.

The percussion propels the track forward at pace. However the guitars add the darkness with their foreboding, anxiety inducing riffs. At almost five and a half minutes Tabernacl is a confident debut. Its atmosphere ebbs and flows but that drumbeat maintains the driving rhythm.

Speaking on the track, Jack says: "The aim was to transport people to a definitive place through the music, similarly to how The Cure do on ‘A Forest’. That midnight drive seemed to perfectly capture the feeling of dread. Whilst the first half of the song is characterised by regret, I relate the second half to confession. And with confession comes a relief which I think is embodied in the music. It was these types of connotations surrounding repentance that led to the song being titled Tabernacl."

The addition of bassist Lauren Edwards and guitarist Elis Penri completed the band at the end of 2021. The four bonded over the written word and found an affinity with the surreal works of Arthur Rimbaud and the Welsh poets R. S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas. After listening to Tabernacl I’m already looking forward to hearing more from Slate.

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