French illustrator Driss Chaoui (Kalakal) recently collaborated with Queer Brewing, the UK’s first queer- and trans-owned brewery, to celebrate Queer History Month. The project, celebrating Alan Hart and Wendy Carlos, received a Silver Award from Creativepool and was named a runner-up by Creative Quarterly this month.
The project celebrates the impact of trans icons Hart and Carlos, whose work had a lasting impact on medical radiology and electronic music, respectively. Hart devoted much of his career to the treatment of tuberculosis, while Carlos helped bring synthesizers to mainstream audiences. Each packaging illustration includes a portrait of both innovators, as well as one original illustration.
Kalakal is a Toulouse-based, self-described “color enthusiast,” working across editorial, publishing, packaging, and commercial projects. Their work combines bold compositions and conceptual storytelling.
According to Kalakal, “The brief was very last minute. I immediately knew I wanted to represent Wendy and Alan in a very dignified way, but adding a fun touch to it. What do X-rays evoke to me? Well, apparently a 1960s weirdo with a beehive, somewhere between Mars Attacks and Juno Birch, but definitely campy as hell.”
Kalakal’s portfolio of art and other projects is available to browse online at kalakalillustration.com
Finnish alt-pop artist, producer, and songwriter Cecil Opia announces new album GHOSTS AND PHONE CALLS, a deeply personal album about digital loneliness, disconnection, desire, and isolation, set to be released on September 25, 2026.
Opia describes GHOSTS AND PHONE CALLS as “a roadside motel room… Inside are unanswered phone calls, texts left on read, breakups happening through screens, restless nights, body dysphoria, insecurity, and thoughts that never quite become complete sentences.”
Opia wrote the album while relocating from Helsinki to Berlin, finding herself alone and far from the people and places she knew; displacement became inseparable from the music. The album also emerged after a nearly eight-year relationship ended abruptly through a single phone call in that same room.
“It came from this feeling of never quite belonging anywhere. As a queer trans woman, I’ve often felt like I’m standing just outside the room, even when I’m inside it. I could be in Helsinki and feel disconnected, then move to Berlin and realise the feeling had followed me. The album became a way of documenting that distance. All the things you don’t know how to say when you’re alone with your phone at three in the morning.”
GHOSTS AND PHONE CALLS also marks a distinct musical evolution in Opia’s sound. Drawing from alternative pop, late-’90s trip-hop, shoegaze, and early-2000s aesthetics, the album moves between intimacy and fragility, euphoria and visceral energy. Its lyrics are more direct, vulnerable, and explicitly queer.
The lead single “This Body” confronts gender dysphoria and the complicated relationship between identity and the physical self. Focus track “Text Messages” captures the obsessive spiral of wanting someone who has stopped answering. “Fluorescent”, meanwhile, explores queer joy and sexual liberation through the intimacy of self-pleasure, turning solitude into something sensual, euphoric, and entirely your own.
Disconnection also appears in the album’s guest features. Finnish-French artist yaya (Sony Music) appears in French, while ÄmbÖ (Fountain Records) contributes a feature in Japanese.
“I wanted the features to be in languages I don’t speak. It creates this feeling that even when you’re hearing another person, you can’t completely understand them. That felt very true to what the album is about.”
A large portion of the album was written collaboratively with yaya and “Fluorescent” was co-written with Mendi Moon (Ranka Entertainment).
Despite its collaborative writing process, the album remains entirely Opia’s own production world: every song on GHOSTS AND PHONE CALLS was produced and mixed by Cecil Opia. The album was mastered by Tommi Vainikainen and Stefan Brown at Abbey Road Studios.
GHOSTS AND PHONE CALLS will be available to stream on September 25, 2026.
Openly queer and non-binary singer Blair Davie released the single So What on May 13th, featuring not only the title song but an additional track, “When You Fall In Love,” which was initially released as its own single on March 11th.
Known for songs like “Lovely,” “Butterflies,” and “Wouldn’t Be Right,” Davie frequently showcases passionate, raw vocals and heartfelt lyrics. Romance is a recurring motif in their music, and this latest release is no exception.
“So What?” is a passionate declaration of love, with Davie singing, “I think we’re set for life,” transitioning into the chorus, which expresses finding happiness through love, after years of “hell,” and essentially asking their partner if they feel the same, ending the song with:
"And I got my eyes on you And I bet my life on you Spent all of my time on you So what are you gonna do?"
The lyrics are sugary sweet with an upbeat, perky melody to match. It’s a lovely feel-good expression of love and finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.
“When You Fall In Love,” on the other hand, has a much more somber, soulful sound, but an equally romantic message. With beautiful acoustic instrumentation accompanied by Davie’s soft hums, the lyrics read almost like a letter to Davie’s past self, feeling isolated and broken, urging them to hang in there because good things are on the horizon.
"Good things just need the right time And you don’t know yet But it’s coming Someone’s out there, yeah Makes it worth it"
Through love, Davie has found stability and a sense of belonging, soulfully declaring quite frankly, “When you fall in love/ It’ll save you.”
The song is melancholic yet hopeful, with Davie sending love to their past self, who was hurting and alone, now feeling healed and in a healthy, loving relationship.
These two songs showcase Davie’s versatility and mark an exciting start to 2026. The singer is currently on tour through July 21, and their next EP, “You Like Ugly, Don’t You Babe?” is coming out on September 9th, 2026.
