Once, driving north along the Oregon coast on Highway 101, I crossed a bridge in wet-wool fog; at the far end, as if a curtain had lifted, piercing, peerless blue. This realization was as abrupt and crystalline.

The Second Handle

When the Scissor Sisters’ glitter spaceship landed in the UK, it dragged my past into the present. To most, “Take Your Mama Out” was a sing-along party anthem that just happened to
be about coming out.

Lost and Found

On “The Weight”—one of my favorite cuts—Smith sings his wish to die before his beloved
because “without you I would be lost.” It’s the kind of dark yearning that blooms like a Japanese flower in the torrid tumble of romantic love

Cila Warncke

Selected work