Jessye DeSilva announces the July 14 release of their new album Renovations, a revelatory journey through the intersections of identity in society and a masterclass at finding power in vulnerability. Queer and trans empowerment are at the very heart of the album, with instrumentals from fellow LGBTQIA+ musicians including Aaron Lee Tasjan, Jake Blount, Ellen Angelico and more. Along with the announcement, DeSilva shares the debut single “Proud & Lonely,” a meditation on finding inner peace set to a comforting melody of acoustic guitar and fiddle. 

“The past couple of years have been surreal in the scope of uncertainty and loss we’ve experienced collectively,” DeSilva says. “Sometimes it hits so hard that you feel as though you’ve even lost yourself. You can feel the grief reflected in even your natural surroundings, and the more you search for familiarity and comfort, the more it can seem as though you’re met with reminders of what you’ve lost. ‘Proud & Lonely’ sits firmly in that struggle and offers comfort and rest in the idea that ‘it’s ok to not be ok.’ You don’t have to push through and save face.”

Renovations chronicles an ongoing journey to acceptance, as Jessye DeSilva explores themes of privilege and marginalization, identity and trauma, and reconciling self-image with public perception. A non-binary, trans person and the child of a preacher whose conservative religion left little room for their own personhood, DeSilva is equally as influenced by their musical theater background as they are the second-wave emo bands they grew up listening to in the 1990s. Over the course of 11 new songs, DeSilva delivers the album they wish they had as a kid – one that will be immediately relatable to young queer people, yet remains universally impactful with moments of both deep resignation and revitalizing triumph. 

“I grew up not really seeing trans people and queer people portrayed very often at all in public. It was very rare to see any depictions of trans people, let alone positive ones,” DeSilva explains. “You don’t have to be queer or trans to relate to the album, but I’m putting this out for my trans kin right now. I’m not going to try to make this mainstream or try really hard to appeal to universality, because this isn’t the moment for that.”

Jessye DeSilva is a classically trained vocalist and a voice teacher for musical theater students at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. Renovations follows their ‘70s-rock-influenced 2022 release Landscapes, which earned them a nomination for Americana Artist of the Year at the 2022 Boston Music Awards.

Photo Courtesy: Will Payne Harrison