Portraits of Tracy – This Song May Or May Not Be About An Alt-Right Influencer
Today, Portraits of Tracy — the elusive producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who earned a cult following after setting online circles alight from her teenage bedroom in Baton Rouge, LA — shares “This Song May Or May Not Be About An Alt-Right Influencer.”
It’s a thrashing DC hardcore love letter and song of defiance, dousing your expectations in lighter fluid and striking a match. It’s another taste of what’s to come from Tracy’s new EP Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate A: MTV! out July 24.
Disruptive, experimental, and ultra-vivid, Tracy’s sound draws on indelible memories: a childhood spent locked into DC hardcore, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and when MTV reigned supreme. Today’s single taps into the spirit of Dead Kennedys and Dag Nasty, with basslines that spark like scraping a guardrail. Fury has never looked so fun — but it belies a reality we all must confront and rise against.
Speaking on the single, Tracy has a clear message: “This song was written immediately after I had found out a well known neo-nazi was having the pleasure of enjoying my art. You don’t get to advocate for the erasure of my people and benefit from our culture at the same time.”
“This Song May Or May Not Be About An Alt-Right Influencer” follows the era-announcing single “Caught In A Jam.” The retrofuturistic anthem is written for a space age lounge, with punchy, Gary Numan-style synths and a belting power chorus that feels like Carole King astral projected into a Starfleet ship. Arriving with a suitably kitsch video, Tracy is in a 60s space suit, green-screened into a cardboard metropolis where she must fight an “alien” invasion.
Sharing on her vision for the EP, Tracy says: “Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate? A: MTV! is a loud and playful glimpse into who I am as a person and a musician. Drawing from acts like Stereolab & The Beach Boys… to Dead Kennedys & Dag Nasty… you know it’s bound to be a fun time.”
Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate A: MTV! Is a playful successor to 2023’s Drive Home. An extraordinary statement of autonomy and sonic freedom, the 18-track concept record is an analogy for Tracy’s own journey in accepting herself as transgender and finding her voice as a Black, queer teen raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through the lens of Junie, the album’s central character, Tracy frantically whips between elements of classic rock, hip-hop, R&B, soul, and psychedelic indie rock to tell a story of family, belonging and the importance of staying true to your gut — all guided by her prodigious musical talent.
This EP marks a confident new stage in her evolution, one where she reintroduces herself in glorious technicolor. Get ready to hit play on a whole new level from Portraits of Tracy.
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