New To Hot Press: PureGrand

PureGrand (aka Luke Faulkner) has crafted an excellent new EP, titled Swallow Your Doubt, which celebrates his queerness in all its glory.

"It's an exploration of a queer life as a millennial," he explains. "It speaks about gay life and gay dating in a frank way. Most music about gay love is quite implied - this is very on the nose."

Though PureGrand studied photography in college, his ultimate dream was to perform music. Inspired by the likes of Madonna, Gaga and Britney, the artist wanted to bring together multiple elements of media - from video and sound to graphic design and dance.

Having released his first EP in 2016, a heavily gothic-themed project named Synthetic Roots, PureGrand insists that not only have his skills as a musician improved, but his storytelling has branched out into lighter territory. "This one is less dreary," he says. "It's more fun and positive."

In the song 'Pink', he challenges the idea of masculine gay men being the ideal male form, expressing how beauty can be found in all shapes and sizes. "Its a comment on masculine gay men being more validated," he observes. "It's not an attack on masc gay men, but it's to draw attention to the privilege of being masc. The effeminate boy gets pushed down a lot. You need to keep calling it out - it's important to have a loud voice."

PureGrand has penned one uplifting and soul-boosting anthem after another.

"It's empowering for people to see something that's a off-centre and embraces flaws," says Luke. "It's stuff that the entertainment scene might not perceive as marketable, but it gives people the confidence to be themselves."

Swallow Your Doubt is out now.