LISTEN: babename Shares ‘Highlights’
Debut album of the same name out Feb. 27
As a rising member of the trans community, Jamie Averley opens their heart to a callous and cruel world on the debut album from their band babename.
Entitled Highlights, the Seattle, Washington-based group — rounded out by Dylan Schillinger (lead guitar), Jessica Wetter (bass) and Alex Blackburn (drums) — combine indie rock charm, dreampop swirl and folky jangle to craft songs that feel as though they were cribbed from someone’s private thoughts as Averley navigates their identity and power living in their genuine skin.
Rock & Roll Globe is proud to premiere the title track to Highlights today on the site, a song that Averley calls “one of the most raw and vulnerable tracks I wrote for this album.”
“‘Highlights’ strikes a chord with anyone who knows what it’s like to be peeking out of a closet, wondering what comes next,” they explain. “Beginning as an exercise in specificity, I tied together seemingly disconnected and mundane moments to weave a narrative that explores anxiety about aging, transition, and the ways our relationships to others both change and stay the same. It’s a love song to those who we are safe enough to be vulnerable with even before we open up to the rest of the world — their love for us is what carries us through, and reminds us that we deserve that kind of love from everyone, including ourselves.”
Highlights, which comes out officially on Feb. 27, is a poignant collection of songs about queer strength in the face of old trauma and new adversity, and finally channeling one’s energy into an absolute truth.
“Coming out is a process, not an event,” Averley reflects. “Each of us is becoming someone new every day we exist. If this record can be a salve for even one queer, trans, or questioning kid… if it gives someone permission to love and embrace who they are, then everything I’ve put into this was worth it.”
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