Critically-acclaimed Canadian queer alt-pop artist Adaline unveils a thought provoking new track,“True Love Waits”. Backed by a mesmerizing blend of strings and synths, Adaline’s stunning vocals delve into the haunting legacy of 1990s religious purity movements, particularly their profoundly damaging impact on the LGBTQ+ community.
Addressing the core of the single, Adaline shares, “This song draws inspiration from the evangelical purity culture movement of the 1990s, specifically ‘True Love Waits,’ which advocated abstinence as a means to honour God. This song explores the underbelly and dysfunction of this kind of teaching.”
A cornerstone of abstinence-only teachings prevalent in the 1990s and 2000s, the “True Love Waits” campaign emphasized sexual and mental purity, particularly within religious circles. The prevailing notion of “if you’ve thought it, you’ve done it” intensified the impossible standards, compelling many to outwardly conform while silently grappling with inner turmoil. Sadly, these damaging teachings persist today, inflicting immeasurable guilt and shame on countless individuals who are only now beginning to embrace their intrinsic selves.
Adaline continues, “When you take natural urges to be intimate and demonize them, you set up a punishing and unachievable standard where failure is inevitable. This was an even more tricky minefield if you were gay. It creates people afraid and ashamed of their humanity.”
Alongside the powerful and vulnerable coming out lead single “Brave” and the poignant and haunting second single, “Running On Empty”, “True Love Waits” will appear on Adaline’s forthcoming EP Hymnal set for an independent release on March 22, 2024; pre-order here. Adaline has just revealed the EP’s artwork by Jen Squires and the 7-song tracklist. Please see below.
Produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Future Islands) with string arrangements and performances by Ari Balouzian(Gabriels), Hymnal was inspired by both Adaline’s journey of reconciling queerness and her religious upbringing as the daughter of an evangelical minister and by the stories of hundreds of LGBTQ+ people in a non-profit community she founded called Bad Believer that helps people heal from religious trauma.
Opening with snippets of voices and stories from the Bad Believer community, the tracks on Adaline’s forthcoming EP speak to the heartbreak of being rejected by community, the fatigue of justifying who you are, and the failure of a church system to embody the kind of love they preach. The tone then shifts to a more hopeful gaze, encouraging people to fight for their valued connections and closes with Adaline’s love letter to her parents, showcasing the power of love when one is fully accepted and embraced.
Hymnal follows Adaline’s critically-praised 2020 EP, Dear Illusion. The stunning 7-track collection, which was hailed as “one of the greatest Canadian pop-albums in recent years”, features the sultry, torch-pop track “Waist Down”, which remained on CBC’s Top 20 list for over 8 weeks, the body positivity centered single “Part of You” and the heart-breaking queer power ballad “Ghost”. Featured in the popular TV showWynonna Earp during a groundbreaking love scene, “Ghost” sparked hundreds of powerful and insightful conversations about queerness and spirituality that would eventually lead to the creation of the non-profit community, Bad Believer, and act as inspiration for the songwriter’s next body of work.
