Alekxandr’s «Disney Love»

Cardiff-via-London visual artist Alekxandr shares his authentically queer pop anthem, «Disney Love» – released today independently and distributed with AWAL.

Blending jazz lounge piano sounds with marching electro pop drums, dreamy harp plucks and twinkling synths, «Disney Love» is a glittering pop banger created for the queer community. The lyrics explore the concept of Disney love from a queer perspective, denouncing it for its romanticised superficiality whilst yearning for it at the same time: «You kissed me to life, the boy of my dreams / You love like Disney / You taste like Disney / What happens after happy-ever-after?» Alekxandr’s bold vocals declare in the track.

Talking about «Disney Love», Alekxandr said: «However much we think we’re past it, it’s what we were brought up on and it’s in our collective psyche: two heterosexuals meet, fall in love, dance through an enchanted forest and live happily ever after. Fresh heartbreak made me realise that real love is about communication; about acknowledging past traumas, triggers and navigating them together. That’s the real dance through the forest. When making the song’s bridge, it felt mischievously subversive to sample a 1949 USSR version of Cinderella». 

The «Disney Love» artwork imagines a queer Disney love story, inspired by an online hoax which heralded a ‘new’ gay Disney movie called Princes which, if real, would have felt like real progress.

A video for «Disney Love» is in the making, set to be a celebration of queer love which focuses on elderly LGBTQ+ couples, juxtaposing shallow, youthful Disney love with an enduring, wiser connection.

Alekxandr emerged with the murky and evocative ‘s a l t c r y s t a l s’ in 2018, followed by the dystopian dancehall-inspired ‘If’. Last year saw the release of his PRS funded debut EP Little King, which received critical support from NYLON, THE LINE OF BEST FIT, DIY, I-D, NOWNESS and CLASH with The Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 2 making lead single «Tell Jackson» their Track of the Week. With a sound crafted from haunting vocals over skeletal piano, beats, orchestral swells and fizzing synths, Alekxandr’s dreamy, yet muscular sound has drawn comparisons with Perfume Genius, Anohni and Björk.

«Disney Love» are one of the challengers to the LGBTQ Music Chart this week, you can vote here.