Seán Barna isn’t just among the current wave of queer artists ensuring the future of rock music has space for LGBTQ+ voices—he’s also making sure we’re all aware of the historical context that helped birth the current queer arts scenes. An Evening at Macri Park, his sophomore record and first full-length release for Kill Rock Stars, explores the queer spaces of yore which paved the way for the album’s titular bar to take root in Brooklyn, with the record’s latest single “Disco Nap” serving as a guided tour of the locale.
“‘Disco Nap’ invites you to learn your LGBTQ+ history with a short walk down Jane Street in Greenwich Village,” Barna shares of the single, which pairs his uniquely quavering vocals with a lush orchestration that often sounds more Laurel Canyon than Williamsburg. “In five blocks you'll travel from The Jane—home of both pre-fame RuPaul and the original Off-Broadway production of John Cameron Mitchell’s life-saving queer rock fantasy Hedwig and the Angry Inch—to the solemn NYC AIDS Memorial Park. Then come over to Brooklyn, to Macri Park, and I will show you a world of artists, queens, queers, and activists making their own history with fearless intention.”
This guided tour comes with a visual element in which Barna walks the streets he sings of. Check it out below.
