Hook & Reel: L Devine’s ‘Daughter’ is a story of queer love through a fresh lens

Welcome to Hook & Reel, a series showcasing music that’s guaranteed to catch your ear.

As pop music continues to make a comeback on the charts state-side, hopefully the public will soon turn its sights back on up and coming pop acts around the world and give them the push into the mainstream that they deserve. Ideally, we’ll even get back to highlighting the multitude of artists who are out there turning contemporary pop into an art form ⏤ especially when there are musicians like L Devine, who more than deserve to be in the spotlight.

L Devine first burst onto the scene with the deceptively-breezy, tongue-clicking single “School Girls” back in the summer of 2017. Since then, she’s made a name for herself crafting music that hides incendiary and blunt songwriting in the folds of plush pop songs and pairing these songs with striking visuals well on par with some of the biggest artists in music. Her second EP Peer Pressure dropped this past Friday, and though much of it builds upon her penchant for writing biting, catchy and witty tunes, there’s one song that stands out among the rest as an anthem of Robyn-level warmth and grandeur. Enter “Daughter.”

“Daughter” tells a story of queer love between two young women, as well as the trials and tribulations that come with being in a same sex relationship but through a refreshing new angle. In “Daughter,” L Devine speaks directly to the mother of her lover, proudly and confidently expressing her love while rebuking the mother’s narrow minded viewpoint of her daughter’s queerness. Though Devine cuts no corners in plainly chastising the mother for the selfish nature of her actions and words, she softens these edges considerably in the chorus, through the way she not only empathizes with her beau but also in a subtler way how she understands some of the mother’s agony.

She asks the mom to be supportive of her daughter, saying “…it’s hard enough losing her innocence, believe me, it’s not easy” in an attempt to explain the struggles of coming to terms with one’s sexuality. She then lets the breathless, dizzying high of her love pour from her voice as she tells the mother “she’s my baby girl.” Just seconds later, she poses the mother’s questions to her “What about kids? All the hopes I had for her?” as a way of saying she understands the mother means well in her own way, but she still follows that up by stating simply “I’m sorry miss, I’m in love with your daughter.” Around this beautifully-mature songwriting, she employs dreamy keys and a gently-fluttering guitar, matching her empathetic but unwavering stance in the conversation.

“Daughter” is such a bittersweet listen because it makes me wish so fervently I had this music when I was younger, but it also makes me thankful for the state of pop music today, where queer artists can delve into the depths of what it’s like to come out, as well as the journey of learning to be proud of who you are and who you love. Stream the song on Apple Music and Spotify, and support the talent of L Devine.

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