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Ezra furman lilac and black 2022 credit Tonje Thilesen

Ezra Furman delivers new track "Lilac and Black"

12 July 2022, 14:23 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

Ezra Furman has released new track "Lilac and Black" as the latest outing from her upcoming album All Of Us Flames.

"Lilac and Black" is the fourth preview of All Of Us Flames, following May's "Forever In Sunset" and earlier releases "Book Of Our Names" and "Point Me Toward The Real".

"I’ve started to think of us trans women as a kind of secret gang, scattered across the world," Furman explains. "Or that we could be that. So I wrote this theme song for us, and gave us some gang colors: lilac and black. Unfortunately, being trans usually comes with some kind of threat to one’s well-being or even one’s life. The hostility toward us right now is intense and the stakes are high."

Furman continues, "This song is an expression of deep solidarity and willingness to defend our lives.Being an inherently peaceful person, I hate to imagine it, but there are times that violent self-defense, or defense of others, is the moral and necessary path. This song is about being ready for that. It’s also about how being trans so often feels like a war we never asked for. On top of the seemingly endless social stigma and barriers to our general thriving, various governments have now set in motion a concerted movement to virtually outlaw healthy trans existence. Let it be known: we demand safety, resources and dignity, and we are ready to fight for our lives and the lives of others."

All Of Us Flames will follow Furman's 2019 album Twelve Nudes, and is produced by John Congleton.

She said of the album in May, "This is a first person plural album. It's a queer album for the stage of life when you start to understand that you are not a lone wolf, but depend on finding your family, your people, how you work as part of a larger whole. I wanted to make songs for use by threatened communities, and particularly the ones I belong to: trans people and Jews."

"Lilac and Black" is out now. Ezra Furman's All Of Us Flames album will arrive 26 August via Bella Union, and is available to pre-order now. She'll play London's Roundhouse on 17 November. Visit ezrafurman.com for tickets.
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