If there’s one big takeaway from their newest single, it’s that New York-based musician Liza Anne wants us all to know that “I know how to do this.” That’s what they tell audiences in the chorus of “Rainbow Sweater,” released this past Friday (July 7) via AntiFragile Music. And if “this” is making empowering, emphatic queer indie-pop, the track leaves no doubts that they can.
“It’s just a couple of small steps / Then I’ll get through it,” Anne sings over angular guitars and a steady snare. Accentuated with a background chant of “R-O-Y-G-B-I-V! You always have what you need!” re-emphasizing the rainbow theme of the track, Liza Anne uses the full two minutes and 47 seconds to explore the wrought experience of navigating the world while queer and non-binary. Recently out themself, “Rainbow Sweater” is Anne’s follow-up to recent single “Cheerleader,” their first openly queer track since discovering their identity a few years ago.
About the single, Liza Anne says that it “is a manifestation of possibility, mapping out the ways I tried to carve out a whole person for myself in the fragmented process of growing and working things out in real time in front of other people.”
They add: “I wrote this song, along with ‘Cheerleader,’ when I was still closeted so looking backwards to these lyrics has been really moving to hear myself subconsciously advocating for a deeper sense of embodiment before I felt ready to fully step into that in an outward space.”
Between touring with Alex Lahey this spring, organizing ABBA-themed fundraisers for abortion providers, and gearing up to tour in Europe with Daisy the Great this fall, Liza Anne also worked with director Jacq Justice to produce a video to accompany the “Rainbow Sweater” release.
Check it out below, and try not to hum “R-O-Y-G-B-I-V” to yourself all day after.