Image Credit: Brian Ziff

Adam Lambert just out-gayed himself.

We realize that’s saying a lot for the guy who was introduced to the world on American Idol with an audition to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and who, later that same year, made headlines when he dared to kiss another man on stage during a televised performance at the American Music Awards.

But once you give the singer-songwriter’s brand new EP, Afters, a spin—filled with uninhibited, addictive, club-ready bangers—you’ll see we what we mean. This is exactly (in Lambert’s words) how a homo take it home.

While Lambert might sound especially fun and feisty on tracks like “Wet Dream” and “Cvnty,” that freedom to be his gayest self possible was hard-won. Since publicly coming out in 2009—hot on the heels of finishing in second place on Idol—he’s managed to forge a multi-faceted career on his own terms in spite of constant pushback from gate-keepers and pearl-clutchers trying to tell him he should behave a certain way.

So, even if some of his long-time fans gasped at hearing the lyrics “gonna make you nut” in early single “Lube,” Lambert’s more than comfortable with a little shock and awe by now.

Afters‘ pulsing six-track run will definitely leave you feeling shocked and awed—and plenty of other feelings we can’t mention here. With the EP available to stream, we sat down with Lambert to talk about his lifelong love of dance music, and to reflect on the upcoming 15th anniversary of his debut album, For Your Entertainment.

In the video interview below, watch as we have Adam Lambert explain some of the wildest lyrics from Afters, then scroll down further to read the rest of our conversation with the star who will forever be our idol.

When most artists say they’ve made their “most authentic and honest” music yet, you expect these intimate, stripped-down songs—maybe just vocals and guitar or piano. But your version of “authenticity and honesty” is a new EP full raunchy, gay bangers. What does Afters mean to you, a what does it say about the real Adam Lambert?

I would say it’s the realest version [of me] at the present moment. I think the best thing about being a creative is getting to reflect your reality and your truth. You know, I’ve done a lot of different styles, I’ve worked in a lot of different sounds and subject matter—I’ve done vulnerable, I’ve done pretty, I’ve done retro, I’ve done a bunch of different things.

I was in the studio, and the first thing I wrote that kind of kicked this project off was “Wet Dream,” and it was with three friends: Ferras—who I’ve known for ages—Sarah Hudson, and JHart; all three of them are amazing artists in their own right, and big time songwriters. So we got in there and we were just laughing and being silly and perverted and funny, and we’re sitting there trying to write lyrics when we were like, “What if it’s called ‘Wet Dream’?” And they were like, “Oh yeah, we can’t do that, right?” And I was like, “Why not?”

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So, what dawned on me in that moment was: Where are the rules? Because I think, for a long time, it felt like there were more, and now it feels less so. Not only do I feel like, personally, I’ve been in the game a long time and I’ve earned the right to sort of throw certain rules out the window, but I also just think the game has changed. The way that we can put music out and get it right to our fans and right to a specific audience is different than it used to be. There were a lot of gatekeepers that ran the show. And, for a gay man, it was always a bit of an obstacle course—especially back in 2010 when I released my first project. Some of that first chapter—of dealing with pushback and homophobia and apprehensive business people—it created a teeny bit of PTSD in me, in a way. But we don’t have those gatekeepers anymore; we have social media and streaming, where you can put out whatever the f*ck you want, and get it to the people that want to hear it. And I just felt really ready to follow my instincts on that.

I want to write music that’s that’s kind of overtly sexual, and hopefully makes you feel powerful when you’re listening to it, inspired, maybe a little horny, maybe a little bit like, “Yeah, this is what I want to listen to when I go to an afterparty.” And, also, it’s funny! It’s fun! It’s fun to put “‘Gonna make you nut” in the chorus of the song— that made me smile and chuckle. And I think if you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. You know?

I’m sure many people can relate to that on a personal level, too: When you first come out, maybe you felt like you had behave a certain way, or be a certain kind of “gay.” It can take time to feel like you’re able to step into your full self, and your queerness.

And to shed all that shame—whether it’s your own shame that you’re putting on yourself, or if it’s shame that other people are projecting at you. I think that’s the big wake up call I had coming out of American Idol. I felt very good and open and free and comfortable in my skin, and then stepping into a mainstream pop radio landscape was like, “Oh my god, there’s so much shame to contend with and fear and homophobia and all the things!” And some of it ended up rubbing off on me and giving me this imposter syndrome. Like, “Do I even deserve this? Is this gonna work? Am I just gonna get the rug pulled out from under me?” So it was always a bit of an uphill climb.

Image Credit: Brian Ziff

And, on that note, this fall marks 15 years since your debut album For Your Entertainment, believe it or not. Considering how far you’ve come since then, does that still feel true to who you are in retrospect? What does the album mean to you all these years later?

I feel like there was always things on the albums that definitely pushed the envelope a little bit—t’s not like I was completely neutered, you know what I mean? [Laughs.] I didn’t ever fully fold and give in and say, “Okay fine, I’ll just be a sweet little boy!” That never happened, as we know. But it felt like there was always tension, like there was a low-level conflict with the powers that be.

So, I look back on that first album, and I’m really proud of it. There was a lot of really great moments on it, and I got to work with incredible people. In many ways, that first album actually was very freeing in the composing of it, in the recording of it. It was when we would go to promote it that it started to feel like, “Oh, okay, that can’t be a single because the word ‘he’s’ in it,” or whatever. And now it’s like, “look at this great album we made—what were you afraid of?” But it was a different game.

But I’m so proud of that album. I think it was really unhinged in the best way possible. [Laughs.] It was really bombastic, and I was really excited to throw everything I had into every song—I was hitting all the high notes, every bar, and every measure. And looking back, as as an entertainer and as a musician, I’ve grown a bit in different ways, and it’s fun to kind of look back and really see that.

Adam Lambert in 2009, Adam Lambert in 2024 | Photo Credits: Getty Images

So then, setting out to make Afters, where you’re playing in a different toolbox here and exploring a new genre space, were there other specific artists or sounds you were inspired by?

I’m always listening to what’s new and what’s coming out, and I’m always on Spotify finding new tracks that I love. And I just started making a playlist of sh*t that inspired me sonically, and in subject matter.

It’s very, very much a project about creating a mood, and for that reason, the production’s really important, and the delivery of the different messages and lyrics is really important. It’s not so much about, “look what I can do—I’m gonna wail all this out and scream into the microphone.” It’s like, “What would it feel like if you were in a bedroom situation with a lover?” You would whisper things into their ear, there’d be more breath, there’d be more like passion in the way that you communicated. And so I tried to put that into my singing—that sexuality and hedonism and intensity, but in an intimate way.

Right, you’re very much using your “instrument” in different ways here.

Of course! Yeah, I tapped in some low notes that I didn’t realize I had. But, you know, I’m a little older now, so I had some underbelly in the notes. [Laughs.] But I had so much fun with production, and layering the low and the high. I’ve always been such a fan of electronic music; that’s sort of what I grew up with.

Sure, a lot of people that came to know me doing classic rock. I mean, I love that kind of music too—I love the ’70s, I love how wild it was. Classic rock, for me, was a lane that looked open when I walked into American Idol, so I decided I was going to go for that: “I’m gonna play the game.” With it being really vocal, I knew I could do that, and maybe some of these other people couldn’t, so I found my little spot.

But when I’m hanging out at home, at whatever hour of the day—or driving in my car, or getting on the treadmill, or whatever—I want a beat, I want a baseline. I want to feel charged! I love that pulse of dance music!

Image Credit: Brian Ziff

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Speaking of inspirations, it seems fitting that you closed out your set at WeHo Pride this year with a cover of Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).”

Yeah, that was the last thing I did on my last project. We we tacked it on to the main project, and I did London Pride last year with it when that had just come out. And I had worked with a DJ, and it was kind of a first step over in that [genre] in a way, you know? I’d had remixes done of my songs for years, but to work with an EDM producer certainly was something I was really curious about. So, yeah, it was a taste of things to come.

And by now you’ve had the opportunity to both perform some of the songs form Afters live and hear them out in their “natural habitat” at the club.

It’s fun because, when we were at Heart [for the WeHo Pride after party,] I played the songs that were out already, and Gottmik did a performance, and my buddy Johnny Rice who I’ve known for ages did a performance, and there were these pole dancers, which was so hot. And then we went into the back VIP lounge, and I got to play the songs that aren’t out yet—for the VIPs—and it was a really cool way to gauge what the reaction would be. I had this amazing DJ Mike Taylor live-mixing them in together and it was just like, “Well, this is where they’re supposed to live!” It’s supposed to be in a party setting when you’re a little intoxicated and you’re talking to people that you think are cute, and you’re flirting, and there’s that charge in the air. That’s what these songs are for, so seeing them finally in that in in that mood… that’s what it’s all about!

Photo Credit: Jorge Barragán

Of course. And it’s easy to get into that headspace no matter where you’re listening to these songs.

So much of this album—the way it feels and sounds—for me, I wanted to have songs that felt like the clothes that I like to wear. Does that sound so shallow and silly? I love dressing up—it’s one of my favorite things when you’re going out for a night and you’re putting an outfit together, you’re fixing your hair and your makeup, and you have certain songs you want to listen to. To me, that was it! I wanted songs that gave me that feeling—I want to feel c*nty, I want to feel fierce, you know? A lot of the way these songs sound feel like a lot of the sh*t that I’m wearing: the leather, the heels, tight things, metal—all of it! The fantasy!

Adam Lambert’s new EP Afters is available on all major streaming platforms beginning June 19 via The Orchard.

Image Credit: Brian Ziff

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