The gloves are coming off — as well as the wigs — for Austin singer-songwriter Quentin, whose emotionally honest debut album Tomgirl comes out today, July 24. In this album, Quentin (who uses all pronouns) shows up as their full, fluid self, at least temporarily ditching pretense about gender, style, and anything else that might get in the way of music.
Quentin is Austin radio station KUTX's July Artist of the Month, a decision that lends a special credence to this release. KUTX called the artist "powerful, evocative, and anthemic as hell."
Though Austin artists tend to be relatively free from pigeonholing as far as genre goes, Quentin's style is notably unencumbered by such matters. Power pop and glam rock fans will likely be on board from the starting notes of opening track "Peanut Butter Cigarettes" and the moving, yet energetic "Lucy in Disguise," while gentler, introspective songs like the somewhat acoustic "I Miss New York" and jazzy "Don't Wait On Me" are more appropriate for brooding over a sketchbook.
Quentin says her influences are the "ones that you wouldn't think," especially when it comes to dense lyrics. They drink in inspiration from Sara Bareilles, Phoebe Bridgers, Adrianne Lenker, Elliot Smith, and Thom Yorke; impactful groups in their eyes include Alabama Shakes, Good Morning, Slow Pulp, and Turnover. And all that's before musical theater comes up, or the one to rule them all: Beyoncé. ("Saying Wicked [is your favorite musical] is almost like saying Beyoncé inspires you, to me," he says. "It's like, well duh.") Don't worry. We'll get back to her.
With the stylistic ground Quentin covers and the assertiveness of their tone, it's hard not to make comparisons, but one has gotten too prominent.
"Believe it or not, it's not Prince. Not at all," Quentin says of musical influences. Later, they expand, "I've been doing some Prince slander in my interviews lately. I love this man! I do! I love some Prince! But Prince is like this cis man that would go onstage and perform effeminately. It was a performance. I actually am so innately feminine that I created a male persona to go onstage with."
In many ways, Tomgirl is tied to the idea of shedding the persona. Press materials nail down a more specific theme for the album, one of "breaking free from a relationship with a closeted partner, rediscovering oneself and finding queer joy again."
Quentin's early rise to local importance included two band frontperson personas, with The Past Lives and Nané following the death of singer Daniel Sahad, an important role that helped steward the beloved local band through a very public shock with poise and compassion. Quentin says she "learned so much" from performing with those two bands, but after a childhood in professional theater and young adulthood in bands, it's time to explore personal identity.
"I've kind of always been other versions of myself — heightened versions of myself — and for this project and I think stepping into my solo work and taking it really seriously, I think it was also me just stepping into who i am as a person," says Quentin. "If I made a song with no one else in a room, what does it sound like?"
It was two songwriting retreats at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, run by the artist's then-friend and now-manager Kevin Wommack, that helped knock some of this self-reflection loose. Spending time at the desert ranch, where daily distractions are gone and tedium like meals are handled, Quentin didn't find the "earthy and emotional" outpouring she expected; instead, it was rage.
"I didn't even realize how angry I was," says Quentin of their first trip, in 2023. In the relative solitude, emotions poured out. "You cannot go anywhere, besides within yourself ... It was like day three the first time I went and I just woke up, like, bawling my eyes out and couldn't stop crying the entire day."
The second visit was more focused, in part because the artist knew what to expect, and in part thanks to the partnership of their friend and producer, Freddy "Kinderr" Pérez. The electric "Lucy In Disguise" came to fruition as soon as the duo landed, while "Hello Denial" and "Revolve," both with a bittersweet edge, also both contain "a touch of Sonic," Quentin says.
Even if new fans don't know any of the background, the evocative album cover should tell them everything they need to know. The artist stares at the viewer, wig obviously discarded, one artful tear rolling down their cheek. (The tear was unplanned, elicited by the Radiohead track "Weird Fishes.") They had just shot a video in separate feminine and masculine personas, and this neutral look exposed the artist underneath the makeup with hints of both.
Tomgirl by QuentinAlbum art courtesy of Quentin, photo by @JustinHeron
Quentin ties it back to a personal revelation courtesy of Beyoncé: Fans loved Queen Bey's platinum blonde in the Cowboy Carter era and the glittering disco of the Renaissance era. But the performer always seems to return to her classic, warm blonde onstage. Why? As Quentin sees it, the "fantasy" is for the source material, but when fans arrive at the stadium, it's not to see Cowboy Carter. It's to see Beyoncé.
"I'm not letting go of the fantasy. I'm just revealing what's behind it," Quentin says. "Here are the songs. Listen to the lyrics. Hear me perform. And I really think that's how we're gonna turn this whole thing out for this whole era. Don't worry, I'll give the fantasy again. ... But for right now, let's just focus on the music."
Tomgirl is available to stream or purchase now.
