Barbara | ||||
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Released | February 7, 2020 | |||
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Length | 23:42 | |||
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Trixie Mattel chronology | ||||
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Singles from Barbara | ||||
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Barbara is the third album by American drag queen, comedian, and singer-songwriter Trixie Mattel. It was released on February 7, 2020, through Producer Entertainment Group and ATO Records, and is Mattel's first studio album released through a record label. The album's title is a reference to the first name of the fashion doll Barbie, from which Mattel takes much of her inspiration.
In a September 2018 interview with Billboard , Mattel announced that she was working on her third studio album entitled Barbara and that it would feature an "electro-folk" sound. [1] "Yellow Cloud" was released as the first single from the album on May 17, 2019, though it was later revealed to be a non-album single.
On January 10, 2020, the album's release date was confirmed for February 7, 2020, alongside the album tracklist. She also said the album would be "in the vein of artists like The Beach Boys, The Ventures, and... maybe even a little bit of Blondie." [2] It was also revealed to be a double album, with the first side being focused more on the new surf rock style and the second half focusing more on Mattel's "classic Americana stylings" The album features a cover of Lavender Country's "I Can't Shake the Stranger Out of You" (recorded here as simply "Stranger"), as well as "Jesse Jesse", a love song in tribute of actor Jesse Eisenberg.
Barbara was made available for pre-order, and the lead single, "Malibu" was released, on January 24, 2020. [3] [4] Several of Mattel's influences for the finished version of Barbara include The Go-Go's, Blondie, The B-52's, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, Aimee Mann, and The Click Five. [5]
On January 28, 2020, Mattel premiered a new comedy special, Trixie Mattel: One Night Only on her YouTube channel. In the half hour special she performs the songs "Jesse Jesse", "Gold", and "Malibu" in her living room in front of her vast collection of dolls. [6] The special went on to be nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Special at the 2022 ceremony. [7]
A new version of "Stranger" featuring Patrick Haggerty from Lavender Country, the original singers of the song, was released as a single on June 12, 2020, as Mattel announced earlier on her platforms. [8]
Barbara is primarily an electro-folk, [1] power pop, [9] and surf rock [2] album, heavily inspired 1960s pop and dance music. [10] "Malibu" is a Sheryl Crow-esque guitar-pop song, and "We Got the Look" is a new wave and pop rock track about "being glammed up and hitting the streets". [10] [11] The album's last half consists of country songs that "clearly show her home-roots haven’t gone away". [11]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metro Weekly | [12] |
Writing for American Songwriter , Jason Scott said that Barbara "pairs the original vision of Trixie with a more mature, more playful, and wittier songwriting sheen", producing "an absolute blowout of beachside boogies, delightfully esoteric songwriting bits, and burning guitar confessions" and a tracklist which is "not only intensely personal but exuberant, fresh, and universal". [13] Hank Adams of Country Queer commented that "Barbara is a thicker album than you might think if you only tune into the dancier tracks. But as it progresses, it moves from light to dusk into the evening, from first blushing love to wherever we end up after we’ve been tossed around by romance a time or two… or three. More thoughtful than she was when we initially met her, Mattel guides us through Barbara's story with a deft touch." [14] Sean Maunier of Metro Weekly wrote that Barbara is "her most quintessentially "Trixie Mattel" album yet", stating that Mattel's songwriting "has lost none of its humor, heart, or depth" despite a change in sound from Two Birds and One Stone. Summing up the record, Maunier concluded that "Trixie Mattel’s great strength as a musician is her ability to marry a deeply irreverent comedic sensibility with a clear respect for the people and places from which she has drawn inspiration". [12]
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
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2020 | WOWIE Awards | Outstanding Album or EP | Barbara | Nominated | [15] |
2021 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Breakthrough Artist | Nominated | [16] [17] | |
Queerty Awards | Indie Music Video | "Malibu" | Won | [18] |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Malibu" |
|
| 3:02 |
2. | "We Got the Look" |
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| 2:22 |
3. | "Girl Next Door" |
|
| 2:33 |
4. | "Jesse Jesse" | Firkus |
| 3:22 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Gold" | Firkus |
| 3:04 |
2. | "I Don't Have a Broken Heart" | Firkus |
| 2:49 |
3. | "I Do Like You" | Firkus |
| 3:16 |
4. | "Stranger" (Lavender Country cover) |
|
| 3:14 |
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
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Australian Digital Albums (ARIA) [19] | 21 |
UK Download Albums (OCC) [20] | 34 |
UK Indie Album Breakers (OCC) [21] | 16 |
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard) [22] | 66 |
Malibu may refer to:
The Advocate is an American LGBT magazine, printed bi-monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a website. Both magazine and website have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people. The magazine, established in 1967, is the oldest and largest LGBT publication in the United States and the only surviving one of its kind that was founded before the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, an uprising that was a major milestone in the LGBT rights movement. On June 9, 2022, Pride Media was acquired by Equal Entertainment LLC known as equalpride putting The Advocate back under gay ownership.
I Like to Watch is a 2019 American web series hosted by drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. The series was created by Netflix, and streams on the company's YouTube channel. I Like to Watch films its hosts as they view and react to various Netflix Original Programming and licensed films streaming on Netflix. The first season aired from November 21, 2019 to March 21, 2020. A second season, recorded in the duo's homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, premiered on May 23, 2020. The third season, still recorded from home but with the hosts together in person before moving to a new set, premiered on February 20, 2021. The series won a People's Voice Webby Award in 2022. In 2023 the series won a Bronze Anthem Award in the Awareness & Media categories for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Kim Petras is a German singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Between 2016 and 2020, she released music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records, before signing with Amigo and Republic Records in 2021.
Lavender Country was an American country music band formed in 1972 whose self-titled 1973 album is the first known gay-themed album in country music history. Based in Seattle, Washington, the band originally consisted of lead singer and guitarist Patrick Haggerty (1944–2022), keyboardist Michael Carr, singer and fiddler Eve Morris and guitarist Robert Hammerstrom. Lavender Country has released two studio albums Lavender Country (1973) and Blackberry Rose (2019). The band has a wide number of members in various cities, with Haggerty having been the only constant member.
Brian Michael Firkus, better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, and singer-songwriter originally from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. She is known for his exaggerated, high-camp style and blend of comedy and acoustic pop. In 2015 he competed on the seventh season of the drag competition RuPaul's Drag Race, where she finished in 6th place. In 2018, she went on to win the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.
Brian Joseph McCook, known by his drag persona Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, or mononymously as Katya, is an American drag queen, actor, author, recording artist, and comedian. Katya is best known for placing fifth on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and placing as a runner-up on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, as well as for appearing in the World of Wonder web series UNHhhh and the Viceland series The Trixie & Katya Show with co-host and fellow season 7 alum Trixie Mattel. Trixie and Katya often appear together as a popular comedy duo.
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Mo Heart, previously Monique Heart, is the stage name of Kevin Leandrew Richardson, an American drag queen, reality television personality, and recording artist best known for competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2018), the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (2018–2019), and RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World (2022). Since first appearing on Drag Race in 2018, Heart has appeared in a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including a starring role in Manic Moments With Monique Heart, and hosted her own podcast, Ace of Hearts with Monique Heart. In January 2019, she released her debut single "Brown Cow Stunning", and later released her debut extended play Beloved SoS 6.3 in 2020.
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The discography of American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and comedian Trixie Mattel consists of four studio albums, five extended plays, one compilation album, 17 singles, and 17 music videos.
UNHhhh is an American comedy web series starring drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. In the series, Trixie and Katya discuss a topic humorously in front of a green screen. UNHhhh premiered on March 25, 2016, one year after Mattel and Zamolodchikova appeared in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. The show is aired through World Of Wonder's YouTube channel, as well as through its video-on-demand service WOW Presents Plus. UNHhhh has been nominated for nine Streamy Awards throughout its run, winning Unscripted Series at the 2020 ceremony, which the duo also hosted.
Daniel Pitout, known professionally as Orville Peck, is a South African country musician based in Canada. He wears a fringed mask and has never shown his face publicly. He released his debut album Pony in 2019, followed by the EP Show Pony the next year. His second studio album Bronco was released on April 8, 2022.
Producer Entertainment Group (PEG), also affiliated with Producer Entertainment Group Records (PEGR), is an American talent management firm and production company based in Burbank, California. The group manages LGBTQ+ talent across the globe, including past competitors from the Drag Race franchise.
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Trixie Motel is an American reality television series that follows Trixie Mattel and her partner David Silver as they buy and renovate a rundown motel in Palm Springs, California.
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Generation Drag is a television series produced by Tyra Banks for Discovery+. The show features children ages 12 to 17 preparing for a drag ball along with their families. Reception to the show has been mixed; while some groups have praised the premise, others have criticized it and have made accusations of grooming. The show premiered on June 1, 2022.
Trixie and Katya is a comedy duo consisting of drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. The two have been known for their individual careers as entertainers and often as a popular double act. They first met as contestants on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and quickly became audience favourites, developing an even larger audience as they began to appear together in December 2015 on YouTube.
Drag Isn't Dangerous: A Digital Fundraiser is a charity livestream telethon that was held on May 7, 2023, from 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm (EDT).