Earlier this season, Blair Lucas, the Halifax-based singer and multi-instrumentalist of folk-pop trio The Summer Rabbit, published the results of a photoshoot in which he looked rather a lot like Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Tim Curry’s famed sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Given the proximity to Halloween, it seemed like it might be a costume but Lucas has since confirmed that it’s not a costume, it’s a lifestyle.
Blair Lucas’s debut single as a solo artist, “Heels,” has them proudly announcing to the rest of the world a slight shift in identity and pronouns (he/they).
The world—and the internet, in particular—can be a rather polarizing place. There’s an expectation to pick a side on just about everything and vehemently root for it like it was your birthright or your father’s favourite sports team. That sort of dogmatic adherence to anything, even things we might have once believed to be the incontrovertible truths of the universe, can be off-putting.
For Blair Lucas, the polar absolutes of gender began to make less and less sense. Over the course of the last year, Lucas was provided with ample time for a bit of “self-reflection, soul searching and education.” Having found that the concepts associated with gender contained more gray areas than the standard black and white model previously supported by society, nor did they particularly subscribe to said notions, arrived at a conclusion that “it’s not them, it’s me.”
“I’ve always felt very detached by what it is to be ‘a man’ and always pushed back on toxic masculinity and stereotypes,” explains Lucas. “This came to a head this year when I learned about gender fluidity. The concept that our genders are really pushed onto us by our parents and society has appealed to me and once I read about what being genderfluid was, it was like a light switched on in my head.”
And with that, Blair Lucas announced to the universe, “I’m genderfluid.”
“I’m very happy and proud of this song,” says Lucas. “Usually I like to write songs about other people. Characters I’ve created but, this time, I really wanted to write an autobiographical song about the journey I’ve been on recently and the fluidity as it pertains to my gender.”
It’s not the first time that Lucas has brought the subject up. The Summer Rabbit’s “Jimmy’s a Lady Now,” released in 2016, was the band’s equivalent of The Kinks’ “Lola,” and probably their catchiest tune yet.
“For the longest time, I would say our song ‘Jimmy’s a Lady Now’ was purely biographical but I’ve realized that Jimmy has been me this whole time. That’s where ‘Heels’ comes from; being comfortable in wearing whatever the hell I want and expressing myself in whatever way, regardless of ‘male’ or ‘female’ that works for me. It’s been very liberating and this song is sort of my coming out anthem.”
Lucas, who has always been a clever lyricist and arranger, doesn’t disappoint and naturally veers every so slightly from indie folk into glam rock on “Heels,” delivering a raunchy bassline alongside lyrics like “You look just like a model in a magazine, But what’s a blue-blooded boy to do, When he wants to look just like you,” and “I look so pretty like a schoolgirl crush, hey man I could even make a straight boy blush, I’m gonna kick some ass I’m gonna knock ’em dead, And I know I’m gonna turn some heads.”
At the same time, Lucas has released a piano-driven b-side track from the same session called, “She Always Runs Away From Herself,” which might have been inspired directly by any of The Rolling Stones’ earlier albums.
“Heels” was recorded with Frank Lopez at Ocean Floor Recording where the band is also finishing up their next album.