Lindsay Kay Announces Radical Debut Album “For the Feminine, by the Feminine”

“I tried to imagine men recording this music,” Lindsay Kay recalls, “even men I love working with, and it made me uncomfortable. I needed people who could truly connect with the music on a personal level and would allow me to be completely vulnerable in the studio.” This sense of solidarity permeates the single off the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter’s debut album, For the Feminine, by the Feminine.

“Too” feels airy and delicate, but as the music builds we feel the full emotional weight of a song that was initially pop fluff but culminates in a sense of frustration and anger. It’s an experience common among women and people who present as feminine. “‘”Too’ is about the ways in which women and feminine folks compress themselves for their masculine counterparts. We quiet down so they can speak up; we shrink our bodies to give them more space; we suppress our pain to bring them comfort. It is about the sacrifices we make, many times at our own detriment, to make their lives more comfortable and pleasant, and about finally acknowledging that our space, time, voices, and bodies are important too.”

For the Feminine, by the Feminine is a manifesto of solidarity and inclusion. As Kay prepped for the album, she knew it needed to be produced by and for women and femmes. “It is important for this album to be inclusive of all people who identify as feminine beings,” Kay says, “not just cis-gendered, straight women.” For the Feminine was engineered by Lynne Earls (KD Lang, Calexico, Melody Gardot), mastered by Sarah Register (Ariana Grande, Cold War Kids, Pussy Riot, Lou Reed, Sia, Sonic Youth) and the album art was photographed by Anastasia Lebedeva. Kay produced the album. Joining Kay in the studio were Lynette Williams (Childish Gambino) on the Hammond B3, Elizabeth Goodfellow (Iron & Wine) on drums, Johanna Cranitch (The Cranberries, White Prism) on background vocals and piano/synths, Lara Somogyi (Rufus Wainwright, Mark Ronson) on the harp, Molly Miller (Jason Mraz, The Black Eyed Peas) added additional guitar, Juliane Gralle (Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum, Quincy Jones) on trombone, Flo Oramasionwu on additional backing vocals, Sara Sithi-Amnaui on trumpet, Cara Batema on accordion, Kate Powell played flute, and her dear friend from Berklee, Brittany Karlson on bass.

For the Feminine, by the Feminine will be out on October 5th. Learn more about Lindsay Kay here.