Just in time for you summer playlists, Mermaid drag queen and recording artist Lagoona Bloo (already one third of highly acclaimed drag pop vocal trio Stephanie’s Child) is releasing her solo EP Aqua. With production by SIXFOOT 5, Bloo describes the album as a “dreamworld that explores love, the highs, and lows or relationships, and the sensual fantasies in-between them”. The first single ‘Greedy With My Love’ made a splash earlier this winter, with the follow-up single ‘Hands’ telling the story of a broken relationship and Bloo’s own desire for touch. ‘Wings Of Love’ is a summer anthem telling the simple story of that intense euphoria we all feel when falling in love.
Aqua borrows heavily from good old fashioned Top 40/Pop, harkening back to artists like Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, two of Bloo’s favorite divas. In keeping with that theme, Lagoona’s intent with her music overall is to rewrite what people see as music from a “drag artist” in terms of sound, while crafting infectiously mainstream pop music of her own. The self-annointed “mermaid pop princess” has Latin flair to spare and curves in just the right places. Landing somewhere between high fashion and even higher camp, Bloo balances her aquatic vision between soft and striking, gaining inspiration from anything from the sea.
For her part Lagoona’s emergence from the sea into the landscape of pop music has been a long time coming “For most of my life, I have envisioned myself standing in front of a huge crowd of people performing my own pop music,” Bloo said.
“I didn’t know anything about making that dream a reality but in the midst of the daily horrors that were happening in the early quarantine, as I took a break from drag and was recovering from Covid, I began writing about the many frustrations of my life – my failed relationships and issues with self-esteem. I turned them into melodies, not realizing that I would serendipitously encounter the person who would become my creative partner and best friend just when I needed him most. I played the vocals I had recorded on my iPhone for SIXFOOT 5 and he looked at me and said ‘I want to make these songs with you,’ and the rest is history.”
Lagoona Bloo’s ‘AQUA’ will be available on Spotify, Apple Music and all streaming platforms on May 18. Visit lagoonabloo.com.
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