Photography by Brian Ziff

“I’m having so much fun,” Adam Lambert says of his new EP, Afters, a collection of carnal, hedonistic dance anthems in which he encourages the listener to “own” their urges and fantasies.

Although Adam is widely hailed as one of the most trailblazing LGBTQIA+ artists of the 21st century (he memorably became the first out singer to debut atop the Billboard 200 and became the far-right’s nemesis after blessing the AMAs with their gayest performance ever), this EP is somehow the singer-songwriter at his most – as he says in ‘Lube’ – “homo”. More lyrics incoming to support that statement: “Slip in the room, slip right into you / Gonna make you nut”. [Insert Megan Stalter saying, “We love gay! And it’s awesome!” here.]

“In the past, I might have been caught up in playing a game or trying to win in a certain way that caused me to go in different directions,” Adam tells GAY TIMES. “With this project I sat down and thought, ‘I want to do this for me. I want to make music that I would listen to at the afterparty.’ […] Lyrically, this EP is definitely not subtle, but I’ve never been known for being subtle. I’m a pretty honest person. But it’s like, fuck it. Why not? Now’s the time.”

As well as Afters, Adam is gearing up for the release of Out, Loud and Proud, an ITVX documentary following the Grammy nominee as he explores the history of queer music in the UK, interviewing trailblazing artists such as Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, in addition to Erasure’s Andy Bell, Skunk Anansie’s Skin and MNEK. Below, Adam discusses the “liberating” EP (out 19 July!) and the documentary (now streaming on ITVX), and the progressive change he’s witnessed in the music industry since debuting in 2009 with his historic first album, For Your Entertainment.

Adam, this week marks the 12 year anniversary of you making history as the first out artist to debut atop the Billboard 200 with your sophomore album Trespassing…

I know, it’s wild. I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that was a moment.’ It’s funny because I look at comments like, ‘Wait, what about Elton John? What about so and so?’ It’s hard to believe actually, that it hadn’t happened. At the time I said, ‘Surely that’s not true…’