What follows is an essay by Genevieve Glynn-Reeves, vocalist of North-west art-punk trio Gen and the Degenerates, written to accompany the band’s new single “Favourite Jumper” via Marshall Records. Running as she sent it. Track credits, video, and tour follow at the end.
In 2025 Australian singer songwriter Betty Who said she was “hold[ing] space” for lesbian Pop Star Reneé Rapp to meet a man and realise he was the love of her life 10 years down the line. Quite a strange thing to come out with unprompted and yet in the same year Dance Moms alum JoJo Siwa who had previously identified as a lesbian publicly began a relationship with a man live on British telly during Celebrity Big Brother and queer songwriter Fletcher released her song “Boy” which detailed an unexpected relationship with a man. Fletcher had never labelled herself as a lesbian but had spent most of her career thus far writing about relationships with women.
As a bisexual with a torrid fascination with pop culture I approached this seemingly unrelated flurry of events like Charlie approached his role at the mailroom in Always Sunny. I drew a range of conclusions. The first and most obvious being that sexuality is deeply personal and to speculate publicly on someone else’s is frankly a bit weird. The next realisation was that (although I wouldn’t personally be tweeting about it) I did understand the disappointment that LGBTQIA+ fanbases feel when their favourite artist seemingly capitulates to the straight agenda. We all want to be seen in the art we consume and for queer music fans the options for representation tend to be slim.
I also couldn’t help but wonder if this seeming uptick in heteronormative relationships had anything to do with the rising right wing conservatism that’s infecting the west at the moment. At a time where puritanical values are being shoved down our throats (ironic) do women feel a pressure to relinquish the queerer aspects of their identity? Or are we just paying closer attention to instances like this because of a panic that all the hard won queer representation we’ve gained within the last few years is going to slip through our fingers? Or is it that the swirling soup of misogyny and homophobia that seems to be permeating the culture at the moment has just allowed certain people to say the quiet part out loud? Is the problem really who these women are or are not dating, or could it be the societal expectation of how it’s going to play out?
As a bisexual woman I have felt this belief as the undercurrent in many conversations throughout my life. The belief that the relationships women have with other women are nothing but unserious flights of fancy. The expectation being that all queer women are secretly deep down, straighter than we are making out. As if given the correct conditions we would all, like clockwork, take one step to the right as if we were all partaking in a heteronormative cha cha slide.
All the lesbians would turn out actually to be bisexual, all the bisexuals would turn out actually to be straight and even the straight girls who just don’t really fancy getting married and having kids are just ticking biological time bombs who will suddenly begin pursuing any man within a given radius as soon as they hit 35. There is an interesting reverse effect with queer men. If a man is bisexual it is assumed that he is actually secretly gay. It is very interesting that the default is always to assume people are far more attracted to men than they are claiming to be. It’s giving patriarchy.
Out of this delightful brain soup was born my band’s song “Favourite Jumper“. It details real confessional details from my own entanglements with a diverse range of partners. I have been accused of being a contrarian from time to time (mostly by my mother). Perhaps the swing toward stricter gender roles and societal expectations has made me want to rebel and assert my own desires even more.
Maybe, as the men in my Instagram comments like to tell me, I am demonic and in need of religion. It could of course be that I am at my core a thankless slut. I suppose I will never know. As I have been saying in my tongue in cheek captions on social media, perhaps in an age of trad wives and puritanical pressure we need our bisexuals to be louder and more promiscuous than they have ever been before. It might not be possible to turn the tables but we can at least give the tables a cheeky wink and the middle finger.
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I identify as non binary and so does my partner. Despite falling under the trans umbrella we both have the privilege of moving through the world unharrased by the threat of transphobic hate and violence that’s aimed at our trans siblings, whose presentation falls less neatly into what is expected from us in accordance with what we’re packing in our undies. It does however mean people often assume we are in a straight relationship.
The more informed of us will realise that the way a person expresses their gender visually doesn’t always line up with how they experience it internally. The less informed of us might be shocked to find out that despite my penchant for floaty skirts and low cut tops, I am in a lot of ways “the boy one”, the one who earns more money, who has to be reminded to just listen and not try to immediately solve the problem, the one who can parallel park.
My strong-browed beardy partner is in a lot of ways “the girl one”, the one who cooks most of the meals, the one who shows me arty films I’m not quite informed enough to grasp fully, the one who picks wallpaper. This isn’t an exact science (I avoid taking the bins out at all costs).
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My point here being that even when a relationship is presenting as very heteronormative it is still queer if the people inside it are. This expectation to perform heteronormativity actually impacts all of us. Whether it’s tightly enforced gender roles within a straight relationship or a lesbian couple who are persistently asked indirectly (or directly) who wears the trousers. It is perhaps most confusing for people who date both their own gender and others.
Our understanding of sex and relationships is still so binary that it can feel like whichever gender you are currently dating becomes your fixed default. If you’re a woman dating a man, you’re straight, regardless of how you truly identify. There are certainly privileges afforded to couples who can present as straight including physical safety, economic benefits and structural advantages within society.
Gen and the Degenerates are Genevieve Glynn-Reeves, guitarist Sean Healand-Sloan, and drummer Evan Reeves. “Favourite Jumper” was produced by Michael Champion (Wet Leg, Swim School) and Paul Whalley (The Wanted, Louis Tomlinson). Whalley mixed the track. Felix Davis mastered. The band’s stated reference points are Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem, and the dancier end of art-punk, with a Chappell Roan-shaped pop hook bolted onto the chorus.
The video was directed by Matt Chandler for Clash Entertainment, produced by Louie C. Evans-Kelly. Shani Ross plays the current girlfriend. Jack Goldsmith, Sofi Furio, Aaliyah Sharnell, and Nathan Langford rotate through as the exes. Glynn-Reeves wrote the song.
“Favourite Jumper” dropped on 22 April. The band will be playing a free show at Marshall’s Sonic Nights in Paris on the 23rd June please? Details can be found here.
The band have previously played Truck, YNOT, The Great Escape, the main stage at 2000 Trees, Sziget, Reeperbahn, and SXSW 25 in Austin, where they were one of the most talked-about acts. They’ve also toured the US as a support in venues over 2000 capacity.
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