Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears dished his admiration for British pop songsmith Self Esteem in the May issue of Hot Press Magazine.

Speaking to Flo Laurent, the New York frontman called the singer—aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor—a “fucking clever” artist whose stage production inspired Scissor Sisters’ upcoming UK and Ireland tour.

“I saw Self Esteem play on Sunday at this residency that she had in the West End, which was incredible,” Shears noted. “I think before you go play, it’s important to see shows, big and small. To me, it’s really inspiring and can give you ideas, make you think about what things are right for you.

“The Self Esteem gig had so many great ideas. This Scissors tour, I’m doing the first choreography I’ve ever done for the band, so it was really exciting to see the choreo in her show.”

Later in the interview, Shears also discussed the implicit, subversive power of Self Esteem’s brand of pop music that shines a light on the queer experience.

“I don’t really believe in queer music, but I do believe in a queer sensibility. And what I love about doing this queer music podcast is that I really can explore that duality. I think when you start putting messages in music, when music starts getting didactic, it gets really naff – unless you do it extremely cleverly.

“Take Self Esteem. On paper, I would hate that music, but in reality, it’s brilliant, because she’s fucking clever. The message comes with what the listeners bring to it. It’s what the response is from people. Protest songs become protest songs at the protest – not when you’re writing them.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the Scissor Sisters frontman tells Flo Laurent about the band’s forthcoming reunion culminating in a highly-anticipated return to the live stage, while also reminiscing on their humble beginnings on the ‘80s New York retro-electro circuit.

Read all about it in the May issue of Hot Press Magazine, available via the link below.