What kind of queer blogger would I be if I wasn’t talking about Hayley Kiyoko’s debut album? If you’re here looking for an unbiased album review, you’re in the wrong place. Here I talk about her, the album, her other songs, and about how much I love her.
Becoming a Kiyokian
I love Hayley Kiyoko. Like many fans, I rediscovered Hayley in her post-Lemonade Mouth days when she released her single “Girls Like Girls.” I had this song looped on repeat for months and watched the music video a couple dozen times by now. Once I came to The Great Gay Realization™ I’d been waiting for a song like this for a long time. (Which I got through some of Halsey’s mostly gender-neutral love songs, but I craved more.) “Girls Like Girls” was exactly what I’d been waiting for.
In her EP, Citrine, I became just as attached to “Gravel to Tempo” and “Pretty Girl.” For the first time, I could hear songs about myself. Songs about falling in love with girls, songs about growing up differently in unexplainable ways, songs about a specific kind of alone. Although Hayley Kiyoko’s music came into my life after a lot of the identity mess I’d encountered, her stories were the first unapologetically queer songs I’d ever listened too. For that, I love Hayley.
Expectation’s WLW Content
See, the thing about Hayley Kiyoko is that her great queer content doesn’t stop at the music. The artist directs her own music videos, which often feature thoughtful sapphic relationships (and some great dancing!) This album has three music videos (so far), all of which feature some great wlw content.
Sleepover. The single was released with a music video back last March (2017) which now has over 10 million views. It opens with a half-naked girl sleeping beside Kiyoko as she opens the song “I don’t wanna talk about it / I don’t wanna think about it.” The song itself tells the classic queer story: I accidentally fell in love with my straight best friend. With this song, this video, and this story, Kiyoko verified what we’d known for a while. Lesbian Jesus has arrived. 8/10.
Feelings. First, let me declare a disclaimer and point out that this song is possibly my favorite. Despite the fact that this song is not explicitly about loving girls (it totally is), I relate to it more than anything else. (I over-communicate, I feel too much / I just complicate it when I say too much.) The music video came out in October of 2017 and has almost 10 million views. I drool over this music video every time I watch it. (And not just because Hayley looks AMAZING or that her dancing is AMAZING or that the flirtatious exchanges between the two girls are also AMAZING.) But almost the whole music video is one 4-minute-long shot. One shot!! That’s impressive as hell. 10/10.
Curious. Another great queer music video. And this one gets steamy as hell. The dancing goes up a notch, and Hayley looks flawless even dressed as post-presidential Obama. 12/10 because the make-out sesh is hotter than most lesbian porn.
Other songs. Other songs from Expectations that include explicit wlw content (via female pronouns) are “What I Need” featuring Kehlani (a bisexual artist!), “Wanna Be Missed,” and “He’ll Never Love You (HNLY).” My favorite of which is “Wanna Be Missed,” simply because it’s shamelessly desperate. Also, the great sapphic content on the album cover should not be overlooked.
Conclusion
Hayley Kiyoko is Lesbian Jesus and I am so here for it.
a lesbian and her laptop 