Christine And The Queens Challenges Pop Music Gender Binary

Christine and the Queens makes her eagerly anticipated comeback with new single “Girlfriend,” available to stream and download now via Because Music. “Girlfriend” is Christine and the Queens’ first new song since her already iconic debut album Chaleur Humaine (titled Christine and the Queens in North America).

Besides her debut being a tremendous critical success selling 1.3 million units across the world, she toured North-America multiple times, played Coachella, Governors Ball, as well as performed “Tilted” on numerous late night shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Christine and the Queens gained rave reviews across the board from New York Times, Pitchfork to Vogue and she graced the cover of Time Magazine‘s “Next Generation Leaders” issue where she was proclaimed to be one of the most influential young creatives in the world.

If Christine and the Queens/Chaleur Humaine was an introduction to Christine and the Queens AKA Héloïse Letissier, then “Girlfriend” is a bold declaration of the next chapter in her story. She’s stepping away from her debut album towards a tougher, more minimalist, and more upbeat sound, which finds its most direct expression on “Girlfriend”. The track – written and produced by Letissier – pays tribute to her long-time love of the G-funk sound, and in order to get it exactly right, she tracked down one of its pioneers, Dâm-Funk, and asked him to sing and play on it.

Not only does the sound have a newfound muscle, so too does the tone, which marks a naked shift of energy, from the “teenage years” mood that fuelled much of her debut, towards a more provocative and exhilarating expression of confidence, sex, anger, lust, and, crucially, macho swagger. Throughout, “Girlfriend” questions identity and plays with the performance of gender, and how the codes of “masculinity” are disrupted if the player isn’t a man.

“I initially set out to smash against macho culture and macho men,” says Letissier. “I became obsessed with this idea of the macho man, and still being a woman. What does it mean if I’m this figure, and I’m a woman? Does it make me an aberration? Is it joyful?”

The song, too, is overwhelmed with desire. “I felt I had to address female desire and it’s diversity,” she says. “How sometimes it’s blacked out or ignored. It’s still something quite suspicious or slightly dirty. I felt like it was important to be more unapologetic about that.”

Christine and the Queens will perform live for the first time at Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend in UK, on Sunday 27 May. She has announced a full tour of Europe, Canada and the United States for the fall. See below for the full list of dates.

11 October – LUXEMBOURG, LUX @ ROCKHAL

12 October – BRUXELLES, BE @ FOREST NATIONAL

13 October – AMSTERDAM, NL @ AFAS LIVE

15 October – BERLIN, GER @ COLUMBIAHALLE

17 October – STOCKHOLM, SE @ NOBELBERGET

23 October – SEATTLE, WA @ THE SHOWBOX

26 October – OAKLAND, CA @ FOX THEATER

27 October – LOS ANGELES, CA @ THE WILTERN

31 October – NEW YORK, NY @ BROOKLYN STEEL – SOLD OUT

01 November – NEW YORK, NY @ BROOKLYN STEEL

02 November – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ UNION TRANSFER

04 November – WASHINGTON, DC @ 9:30 CLUB

05 November – TORONTO, CAN @ THE DANFORTH MUSIC HALL

06 November – MONTREAL, CAN @ PLACE BELL

17 November – BOURNEMOUTH, UK @ BIC

20 November – LONDON, UK @ EVENTIM APOLLO – SOLD OUT

21 November – LONDON, UK @ EVENTIM APOLLO – SOLD OUT

23 November – GLASGOW, UK @ ROYAL CONCERT HALL

24 November – EDINBURGH, UK @ USHER HALL

26 November – BIRMINGHAM, UK @ O2 ACADEMY

27 November – MANCHESTER, UK @ O2 APOLLO

30 November – DUBLIN, IRL @ RDS

04 December – NANTES, FR @ ZENITH

05 December – BORDEAUX, FR @ METROPOLE ARENA

06 December – MONTPELLIER, FR @ ZENITH SUD

11 December – GENEVE, FR @ ARENA

12 December – STRASBOURG, FR @ ZENITH

14 December – LYON, FR @ HALLE TONY GARNIER

15 December – TOULOUSE, FR @ ZENITH

18 December – PARIS, FR @ ACCORHOTELS ARENA