My Ieuan Top 5 Countdown

Ieuan is one of the youngest musicians in the Queer Pop scene right now, but much like his younger peers such as Greyson Chance, Miss Benny and Troye Sivan, Ieuan feels like a full fledged pop star who knows who he is and what he wants. In a short amount of time Ieuan has already amassed a strong and vocal following online. Like a lot of his peers Ieaun is very tech savy. He knows the importance of social media and how to use it to help craft his image and persona. Ieaun is also really good about interacting with his fans online as he constantly responds to messages and tweets and feeds his fans with a steady flow of content to keep them active and engaged. As social media, streaming and smart phones continue to tighten their grip on our culture, and the youth especially, it's important for artists to use all these outlets to their advantage and Ieuan feels like he has mastered it.

In fact, I learned of Ieuan first through social media. I started seeing other queer pop stars and their fans responding and tweeting back to him. A lot of these tweets were pretty funny too. It was obvious that Ieaun and his fans had a sharp sense of humor that could be equally biting and goofy in a very endearing way.

The first song I ended up hearing from Ieuan was Virtual Reality, which was his latest single during the summer of 2019. The song was a perfect introduction to Ieuan's sound & brand. It was a song that dealt with the idea of losing one's self to technology and falling in love with something that is closer to artificial intelligence and not real. The song was dark but sexy and Ieuan already felt like one the best and unique voices I had heard in the queer pop scene.

The next song he released made me an even bigger fan. That song was Key Your Car and I fell in love with it after just one listen. The song was not only a bop but it's lyrics cut deep for me as it reminded me of an ex boyfriend I had in college. I messaged Ieuan not only telling him I loved the song, but that I related so much to the lyrics and I went on to explain why. Ieuan responded and was so touched that I had connected that deeply with his song.

By the end of 2019 I was recording the year end look back with the Q Review where we discussed our favorite songs, albums & artists in queer music for the year. In that episode Kenney, who runs The Q Review, said one of his favorite songs of the year was Honey Lavender by Ieuan, which had been released earlier in the year before I knew who Ieaun was. I decided I needed to hear Honey Lavender as soon as the podcast recording ended and Kenney was right it was another fantastic bop.

Eventually Ieuan announced an EP was coming and all of his followers and gay Twitter in general was a buzz with excitement. I knew right then and there that I was gonna cover Ieaun on the blog once the EP dropped. The EP, which is called Sweet Boy, is already one of the best releases of 2020. It's a complete artistic statement with no filler. Each song stands out on its own, while also all contributing to a greater message for the EP, which is about the dissolution of a relationship.

While I think the entire EP should be listened to from start to finish, I'm still gonna do what I do best, which means I'm gonna rank my top 5 songs by Ieuan thus far. While a majority of the picks do come from his latest EP, I will also have a couple of picks from before that I really like. It's clear Ieaun is an artist who has something to say and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Ieuan is a restless artist who doesn't like resting on his laurels and he already has new material coming out shortly. Still let's take stock of what my favorite Ieuan songs are this far so I can get you dear reader on the Ieaun bandwagon with me. That way you're ready and waiting for his next era like the rest of us.

5. Goodbye

Goodbye was the second single released from Ieuan's EP Sweet Boy and it was the last single before the EP was released in full. The EP tracks the dissolution of a relationship and as the final song off the EP, Goodbye shows Ieuan confidently kicking his lover to the curb after being mistreated by him for so long. In the first verse Ieaun sings about how his ex treated him like a piece of meat. To his ex, Ieuan was only worthy for sexual exploits, but nothing more much like all the boys in his ex's life:

"You don't really ever call me

Hitting me up for a good time though (though)Everything I know you say you taught me (taught me)Young Hollywood down at the chateau

You ride waves like a tsunami

Everybody's just another body to ya

Eatin' me alive like a zombie

You don't really ever call me yeah"

The chorus to the song is one of Ieuan's best because it's both snarky as hell while being empowering at the same time:

"Goodbye, tell that little bitch, "Goodbye"

You've been telling lies 'bout your whole damn life

Goodbye, tell that little bitch, "Goodbye, goodbye", yeah"

This chorus is memorable right from the start and is hella fun to sing along to. This is a perfect example of how to write a chorus that sticks in the listener's brain after hearing it just once. In fact, by the time the chorus comes around for a second time upon first listen you too will probably be singing along with Ieuan, which is the highest praise I can give a chorus in a pop song.

4. Woe Me

Of the 3 songs not released ahead of the Sweet Boy EP dropping ,Woe Me became my favorite song immediately. Like most of the songs on this EP, Woe Me is another example of a perfect pop song. It's a catchy bop, but with a story to tell. In this song Ieuan remembers the good times he had with his ex boyfriend. His ex was obviously very worldly and impressed Ieuan by taking him on a summer vacation around Europe:

"We were drunk in Germany

Teenage dream with the greenery

Hella thoughts in the scenery
Familiar but it's new to me
New to me, not you
Veteran, come through
Kickin' it, kung fu
Hennessy, thank you
Summer heat, I'm above it
Fakin' it like I'm McLovin
Going, going, going Superbad
Make up for shit that we never had

July July July behavior"

Here Ieuan paints a picture of young love where everything is still new and exciting. Ieaun's way with words creates some striking imagery here. Ieuan reference's Katy Perry's Teenage Dream as a way to describe how ideal & perfect he felt this relationship was at the start. Ieuan singing about July behavior is a clever way of saying that the summer is always the best time for relationships but by the fall the relationship was already starting to crumble.

The main chorus is another stunner and I love the way Ieuan sneaks in some electric guitar during the chorus. That guitar helps to give Woe Me an extra boost of energy, which is something I can always appreciate as a Alternative rock fan.

3. Honey Lavender

Honey Lavender is the song that really put Ieaun on the map in early 2019. As of right now it's his most streamed song at over 4.5 million streams total and climbing. Yet, the song had alluded me for so long. I wouldn't discover Ieuan until Virtual Reality and I wouldn't hear Honey Lavender until the very end of 2019 when Kenney added it to his top songs of 2019.

Kenney described the song as having a very nostalgic appeal and once I sat down and listened to it I could hear what he was talking about. At the same time while I can hear different eras of music influencing Honey Lavender, I can't pin point directly any one song or artist and that's because it sounds 100% Ieuan. Ieaun has a way of taking his influences and making them feel new & fresh due to his lyrics, delivery and overall presentation and this is what makes him a great pop star.

With this song Ieuan is also not only openly gay but calling out his lover for not telling anyone about their relationship. This is most likely due to Ieuan's lover having internalized homophobia still:

"I don't wanna be your secret

'Cause by the time I'm here, you're leaving

You never wanna take the chance
You got two left feet, but you still know how to dance, yeah

[Refrain]
I don't mean to rush you, baby
Indecisiveness got me feeling crazy
And I don't want any bad karma
But when you gonna tell your momma?

[Pre-Chorus]
That you met a boy, you don't care what she tells your father
Why would you bother to cover up your tracks

Never call me back, back to where we started, oh."

The fear of telling your own family you are gay is honestly one of the hardest things to do for anyone who is queer. While no one should be rushed to come out until they feel comfortable doing so, it's also not right to drag somebody along but never commit either. Ieuan understands this completely when he says he doesn't want rush his lover along on his journey of self acceptance, but Ieuan doesn't want to be treated as a dirty little secret either.

Honey Lavender captures the complex emotions that come from gay relationships when one of the partners cannot fully accept himself or that he is in a same sex relationship. Honey Lavender established what a force Ieaun already was as a pop star and it's a bop to boot!

2. Virtual Reality

While Honey Lavender was Ieuan's big breakthrough, it wasn't until Virtual Reality was released that I became a big Ieuan fan. Ieuan says Virtual Reality was inspired by episodes of the horror show The Black Mirror. That television show plays out like an update of The Twilight Zone & the Outer Limits, but with a heavier emphasis on how modern technology can be absolutely frightening and dehumanizing if we let it get out of hand.

On Virtual Reality Ieuan sings about falling in love with someone, or better yet something, that is more technological than human. Ieuan acknowledges how destructive & dehumanizing this obsession of his is becoming but he still can't resist anyway:

"See me breaking down like I need a repair

But you ain't there now, are you?

Rather live in a world where I depend on the words
I don't care if they're not true
Where you never wanna speak those lies
Keep it all inside
Where your diamonds melt to ice
Keep it all inside

I don't want you calling out my name
Seeing my blood in silicone veins
Rip out my hair and call me insane
Glitch in the system, more of the same

Tell me this is real
It's been hard to feel alive for a while it seems, uh-oh
If it's our destiny
Virtual reality's got a hold on me, uh-oh"

There is a dark sexy throb to Virtual Reality that is equal parts mysterious and catchy and it's hard to resist. From this point forward Ieuan had my complete attention and when he released his next single a few months later I would become a full on Ieuan Stan!

1. Key Your Car

When Key Your Car came out I was on a social media break for a week due to my concussion. Yet, as soon as I heard the song I had to jump onto Twitter and direct message Ieuan about how much I loved it. You see Key Your Car is about how an ex-boyfriend of Ieuan's treated him more like a prize object then an equal. Ieuan sings about how his ex would parade him around his friends in order to impress but his ex never treated Ieuan with the respect he deserved:

"Now you're taking me to parties

Showing me off to everybody

I don't wanna be your novelty
I don't wanna be your anything."

These lyrics connected with me immediately because it reminded me of my first boyfriend in college. We connected originally through Myspace (my God I'm old) on my summer break between my Sophomore and Junior year of college. We would message each other back and forth all summer and we didn't meet until I went back to college. We had a big first date and on the surface it was nice, but at the end of the date I was exhausted. He kept introducing me to his friends as a cute accessory and say things like "this is my new boyfriend isn't he cute!" He never mentioned anything else about me. He only made superficial comments about how pretty I was. It felt like I was a trophy wife from that point forward in our relationship.

When he met my friend Jen, she was NOT impressed with him! When I asked Jen what she thought she simply looked me in the eye and said "If you're happy I'm happy." Well this soon became a running gag between the two of us because she could never say that again without giving away the fact she hated my future boyfriends. Eventually I dumped him after I realized that he would never truly listen to me or treat me as anything more than a prized piece of meat.

Hearing Key Your Car for the first time it brought all those memories and emotions back in a way no other song had before. Once again I say this to reiterate that before this wave of current queer musicians I rarely related to songs this directly. I would either find ways to make songs relatable to my life as a gay man or I'd appreciate the songs on a more melodic or instrumental level. Yet, just like Troye Sivan's Seventeen reminded me of my first hook up with another man in college, Key Your Car captured so much of how I felt about my first boyfriend in college.

The song itself is insidiously catchy with a piano riff that is impossible to forget after just one listen. Key Your Car may have connected with me on a deeper level but like all Ieuan's music, Key Your Car is still very much a song that only Ieuan could deliver. Key Your Car captures so much of his pop star persona perfectly. The music video for the song also captures the slightly menacing edge Ieuan has as a pop star too.

I didn't know who Ieuan was at the start of 2019 but by the end of the year Ieaun had jumped to head of the pack for me in terms of modern queer pop stars and Key Your Car was the biggest reason why. I'm already on pins & needles waiting for Ieuan to release more new music shortly. In the meantime just keep streaming Key Your Car.