Logan Lynn has announced brand new studio album SOFTCORE (Kill Rock Stars) due out June 7. With the new collection, he infuses this old-fashioned belief in monogamous love and self-tenderness to his exuberant, playful and in-your-face brand of synth-laced queer indie punk. While lead single “To Be Of Use” represents the album’s quietest moment, this aching Bill Callahan cover makes sense as an opener — its frankness and starkness prepare the listener for the truth bombs to come. Opening line, “Most of my fantasies are of/Making someone else cum,” hits like a ton of bricks, and could be seen as one of the core moods of SOFTCORE as a whole — the feeling of finding yourself through the experiences of those you love.

Logan shares, “I listened to it during a time in my life when I was really on drugs and not well, and then I continued to listen to it as I got well, and it has always meant something to me. I think it speaks to my own sexuality. It speaks to my own idea of intimacy. I feel seen by that song and by Bill Callahan’s writing. The idea that I would start the record off soft — uncomfortably soft — was on purpose.”

Like many gifted musicians, Logan has always used his songwriting as a way to cope with the ups-and-downs of life. Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian community that “hated gay people and only sang a cappella” the album is brimming with commanding, danceable sex positivity. With a title like SOFTCORE, you might assume that Logan is going straight for sexuality, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about how warmth can make way for strength, how going through one of the hardest experiences of your life doesn’t have to make you hard. “‘SOFTCORE’ is not about pornography,” says Logan. “In the midst of this stuff that hardens us up as people, things that have historically sent me spiraling or sent me out to be in solitude, I want to stay soft, I want to stay open and sexy.”

SOFTCORE is self-described as “equal parts ‘FUCK YOU!’ and ‘LET’S FUCK.’” The record sounds like that: it sounds positive. It sounds pissed. It sounds horny. But in the end, it resolves in a way that feels genuinely hopeful. Like Logan’s life has.

Photo Courtesy: Casey M. Dudley