The 25 Best Pride Songs of 2022 (So Far): Staff Picks

It’s safe to say that, given the opportunity, most people would choose to fast-forward through life’s less-pleasant moments. Allison Ponthier’s lush “Autopilot” perfectly encapsulates that feeling: Inspired by her fear of driving and failed attempts at earning her license, Ponthier swaps her folk-infused sound for more ostentatious, indie-rock guitars and crashing drums — an apt parallel to the chaos she sings about. The song successfully conveys how great it would be if we could simply turn on the cruise control to smooth over life’s rough patches. — FRED SAHAI

After a year like Arlo Parks’ 2021 — in which the singer/songwriter was nominated for best new artist at the Grammys after releasing her critically-beloved album Collapsed In Sunbeams — anyone else would’ve taken a break. Instead, Parks delivered the new “Softly,” an intimate, upbeat indie-pop gem that reconfigured the star’s R&B-twinged sound and superior songwriting ability, resulting in one of her most confident records to date. Even when singing about the fear of losing someone she loves, Parks’ voice shines with new vigor as she belts her way through this grooving track about the power of moving on. — STEPHEN DAW

Cavetown, whose knack for wounded, earnest bedroom pop brings to mind Belle & Sebastian, teams up with another intimate auteur, Beabadoobee, for “Fall in Love With a Girl.” But instead of spiraling down an introspective hole, the pair exercise a bit of power-pop muscle on this ode to finding the strength to find happiness in your sexuality, without compromising. — JOE LYNCH

Ten years after putting his microphone down and taking a step back from the music industry, Darren Hayes certainly proved how to make a comeback with this stellar queer anthem. The former Savage Garden frontman’s echoing voice, paired with the song’s ’80s-synth-pop sensibility, makes “Let’s Try Being in Love” sound like a long-forgotten pop relic pulled directly from a time capsule. That’s not to say the song is dated; the futurist production plays nicely alongside the disco-friendly landscape of today’s pop hits. Instead, “Love” sounds timeless, exactly as it should. — S.D.

Dove Cameron entered her fabulous, villainous era with “Boyfriend,” the TikTok-viral earworm that finds the 26-year-old temptress stealing her love interest away from a boyfriend who simply doesn’t have what it takes. Besides its infectious chorus and sleek production, “Boyfriend” is more than just Cameron’s breakout smash hit. It was an unintentional queer anthem for the multi-hyphenate talent, and a confirmation that fans – new and old — love her more honest and authentic side as she navigates her blossoming music career. — RANIA ANIFTOS

Opening with sky-high guitar work that brings to mind the open plains on a hot day and an ethereal vocal from Ethel Cain that conjures the Cranberries, “American Teenager” is earnest yet jaded, familiar yet fresh – kind of like, well, an American teenager. Cain continues her winning streak of capturing uniquely American dichotomies on this glimmering winner. – J.L.

Australian musician G Flip has been on a run of bangers in the past year, but “Gay 4 Me” is a standout in their repertoire. The sultry beat and G Flip’s laid-back tone lull the listener into a false sense of calm before the chorus lets you know, they “don’t want to play these silly games.” G Flip and Lauren Sanderson release a torrent of chaotic emotion as they grapple with a lover who is still figuring out their sexuality. It’s tense, it’s fun and it builds great anticipation for everything G Flip does next. — TAYLOR MIMS

“For the Girls,” the lead single from Hayley Kiyoko’s long-awaited second album Panorama, is probably the best lesbian summer anthem since “Cool for the Summer.” But where Demi Lovato’s thumping hit kept it on the DL, Kiyoko’s “Girls” is brash, beachy and celebratory, with citrus-sweet lyrics to boot: “Go eat your heart out like tangerines / Let’s break the tension like a Kit-Kat.” – J.L.

There’s simply something about the way “Ride or Die” is constructed that just makes you want to smile. The third single off of Hippo Campus’ excellent third studio album LP3, “Ride or Die” is simultaneously reminiscent of late-‘oos indie rock from the likes of Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective, while also a flippant redirection of the sounds the Minnesota band have been building over the last few years. The syncopated rhythm lodges itself in your brain, as Jake Luppen’s stuttering falsetto voice guides you through this weirdly wonderful indie jam. Sure, you may have a hard time remembering the words — but when the music sounds this fun, who cares? — S.D.

The London-based singer-songwriter stays true to her sun in Scorpio and becomes the life of the party in her breakout song “Party Sickness.” She lets loose and informs her listeners it’s OK to do the same in the visual for the post-lockdown party anthem, which oozes booze, glitter and reckless abandon to make up for time spent in social isolation. Tala finds her own pocket with her “R&Bossa” style, mixing Spanish-style guitar chords with whimsical neo-soul vocals as she sings with an unabashed openness, “Dancing, drinking, and causing mischief/ Off the Malbec, that shit’s delicious.” — HERAN MAMO

The queer kids who were raised on Lady Gaga are all grown up now. On his single “Bleach,” taken from his latest EP Banish the Banshee, 19-year-old Isaac Dunbar has announced his take on the politics of hair. Over an auto-tuned break, he claims “Mommy issues manifested back into my marriage/ This is a sign to bleach your hair,” a sarcastic play on the trope of dying your hair as a coping mechanism. Blending together sonic inspirations ranging from Freddie Mercury to Tiësto, Dunbar’s vocals are marked by a theatricality not heard since Gaga’s Born This Way era — but the self-awareness is distinctively of a Gen-Z star. — JUDE ZHU

Among the various, continued attempts (in the U.S. and around the globe) to devalue the rights and liberties of LGBTQ people, it can help to have a rebellious song to rally behind. Listen once again to “Dark Bird,” the rollicking pop-rock single from up-and-coming singer Jake Wesley Rogers, and you’ll hear just that. Rooted in a beat and melody designed to rouse the senses, “Dark Bird” spins a narrative within one verse, conjuring the image of a black sheep tired of being told that they are the odd one out. Irreverent, clever, and catchy, “Dark Bird” offers an anthem to those desperately in need of one. — S.D.

Seeking closure is tricky, especially when you’re not ready to move on. Kehlani artfully captures this feeling in “Little Story,” asking her past lover if they could “love me again and complete our little story.” Complete with a soft, R&B track and Kehlani’s characteristically honeyed vocals, the feeling of yearning and heartbreak is amplified, just as the 27-year-old singer-songwriter promises when she sings that she’s “workin’ on being softer.” — R.A.

There’s nothing quite like the friendships you keep from high school to adulthood; growing up together just makes for uniquely durable bonds. King Princess’ “For My Friends” is a tender ode to such a relationship with longtime friends Cicely and Chloe. Though friendship is not explored nearly as frequently as romantic love in music, the epic, synth-fueled pop ballad is a reminder of just how vital those relationships are, and how lost we would be without them. — F.S.

Lucy Dacus does not believe in labels, nor is she obsessed with defining a relationship. On “Kissing Lessons,” Dacus remembers a grade school crush who taught her how to kiss, a theme that also occurred on “Triple Dog Dare” from her critically-beloved LP Home Video. While the song’s lyrical outro leaves you scratching your head (“I wonder if she thinks of me as her first kiss,” Dacus sings), the production couldn’t be better-defined. Trading in her soft indie sensibilities for a punchy, punk-style sound, “Kissing Lessons” stands out as a must-listen amongst Dacus’ extensive discography. — J.Z.

In MUNA’s country-twinged “Kind of Girl,” the indie three-piece sways away from their usual synth-pop stylings to deliver an honest ballad exploring self-acceptance. The gendered nature of the title expresses each of the members’ different relationship to girlhood (including that of guitarist Naomi McPherson, who identifies as non-binary) and the weight of the words we use to describe ourselves. As vocalist Katie Gavin poignantly sings about her always changing self-perception, they beautifully portray what it’s like to struggle with being kind to yourself, while being hopeful that someday you will be open to receiving love, both from yourself and from others. — F.S.

Australian TikTok star Peach PRC is out here doing God’s work and asking the real question on her single “God Is a Freak”: why does God care about an individual’s sexual escapades? An “anti-worship song” as she called it on a viral TikTok post, “God Is A Freak” starts as a soft-spoken, tongue-in-cheek ballad before exploding into a vocoder-and-guitar-warped chorus where the singer gets blunt: “What’s the fixation/ On hating the way he creates/ So why would I spend my eternity/ With God when he’s a freak?” Bluntly worded, but a worthy question nevertheless. — J.Z.

Composed for the Sally Rooney-adapted TV show Conversations With Friends, Phoebe Bridgers’ “Sidelines” is a one-off single, offering a rare first glimpse into Bridgers’ life after achieving fame with her album Punisher and uniting with her current boyfriend, and rumored fiancé, Paul Mescal. “Sidelines” appears to be a subdued new single from Bridgers, but its production choices are atypical for the singer-songwriter. Trading in her emotive guitar for staid keys and adding a tinge of vocoder to her voice, Bridgers’ “Sidelines” shows she’s “not afraid of anything” — at least that’s what its opening line says.  — KRISTIN ROBINSON

In a time where queer and trans people are told that we’re “going to hell” on a fairly regular basis, Rina Sawayama is here to cheer us up… and throw a defiant middle finger up at the homophobes who can’t seem to keep our names off their lips. “This Hell,” Sawayama’s cleverly constructed power-pop-meets-country single, sees the star taking the slogan brandished by bigoted zealots and turning it against them; “God hates us? Alright then/ Buckle up, at dawn we’re riding,” she offers with a gleeful ambivalence. Sawayama’s tongue-in-cheek humor, the top-tier social commentary, and the song’s infectious melody all make “This Hell” an absolute must-listen for anyone who’s fed up with the current status quo. — S.D.

The pandemic brought on a lot of introspection for everyone, but especially for Sam Smith. “Love Me More” is all about Smith reckoning with all the hurtful things people have said about them and, rather than hide from those insults, they sit with the sorrow and work through it. The self-love anthem features Smith’s signature gloomy falsetto, but as the song builds momentum, so does Smith. Working through the pain probably took Smith a long time, but they distilled all that work into a tight three-minute love song to themselves. — T.M.

If you were to take Tegan and Sara’s entire discography and crush it all into a singular song, you would probably get something along the lines of “F–king Up What Matters,” the indie-punk-meets-pop single that signaled the duo’s official shift over to Mom + Pop Records. The single follows the sisters as they break down all the things in their life that they can’t seem to maintain control over, while simultaneously struggling with the fact that they’re supposed to be older and wiser now. It’s an ode to anyone who’s ever felt like they were supposed to have their shit together already, as well as proof that no one really does. — S.D.

Tove Lo serves up a retro-futuristic heartbreak antidote with “No One Dies From Love,” which is really meant to reassure listeners that no one dies from love lost. That feeling transcends humanity in the music video, as the Swedish pop star falls for a robot named Annie but crushes its heart (which ultimately leads to its malfunction) when she finds a more realistic mate named Eva. It explains the second half of the bittersweet, pulsating synth-pop track’s reflection: “No one dies from love/ Guess I’ll be the first.” — H.M.

Oh sweet God, Troye Sivan is in trouble, but he makes falling helplessly in love feel so sexy. The beachy production and assist from bedroom-pop muse Jay Som paint a picture of floating on Cloud 9, careening toward a romantic, delicious, head-on collision. Adding that the song was written for Three Months, a movie that follows a teenager who discovers he has been exposed to HIV, “Trouble” captures the film’s feeling of hope through a difficult situation, making it all the more special. — R.A.