Our recurring music feature Origins gives musicians a home to share exclusive insights into their newest release. Today, Trixie Mattel takes us back to the country childhood that inspired her new single “This Town.”
Trixie Mattel has a double album on the way. While the project, dubbed The Blonde & Pink Albums, doesn’t have a release date yet, the first single “This Town” is debuting today.
Though she made a name for herself as an animated Drag Race superstar, Trixie’s music deals in warm, introspective folk, and “This Town” is no different. Sharing vocals with Austin singer-songwriter Shakey Graves, Trixie looks back at her childhood in rural Wausaukee, Wisconsin with knowing specificity, remembering speeding down empty roads and working at the local fiber glass plant. In the accompanying music video, directed by Matt Amato, old home video footage from Trixie’s youth alternates with current day footage of Wausaukee corn fields and bars.
“’This Town’ was written during the depth of 2021 lockdown when I was fantasizing about quitting drag and moving to my hometown,” Trixie said in a press statement. “The simplicity of such an honest place appealed to me at a time when [Los Angeles] seemed doomed. However, even the sweetest small towns have a dark side and all the reminiscing made me remember the duality of such a place.”
Trixie expanded on this duality in a statement to Consequence, acknowledging that as a gay person, living in a small town doesn’t always inspire warm and fuzzy feelings. With “This Town,” she equally recognizes the positive and negative sides of Wausaukee, appreciating certain comforts and recognizing certain pains with equal respect.
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