French Fries and Margarita isn’t your average artist. ‘I want to establish a style that people recognise.’ So far, so like many a pop star. But, for the non-binary gender warrior with the blonde ambition hair and black-out sunglasses, the enigma digs deeper. ‘The reason I’m not revealing my identity is it could be very dangerous in some countries.’ The parents, the history, the real name, all shrouded in mystery, which is for their personal safety. ‘I need to create a boundary for my own protection, for my own safety until we have a future where I can be free and safe.’ But the queerness, the celebration of gender freedom, the political meanderings, the shouting of human rights from the highest rooftop – in that telltale bombshell hair and front row fashions – is very much the name of French Fries and Margarita’s game.
Crimes Against Nature, which drops this week, is the poster-song for all of the above. ‘It’s a legal term from the 19th and 20th centuries used to allege that same-sex activity or any sexual activity that was non-mainstream was a crime against nature, punishable even by death. So we use the same term against those people who think like that.’ Produced by German-based Golow, mixed by Kyle Mangels and mastered by Grammy award winner John Greenham, it’s a whirlwind of electric beats and zingy pop, with French Fries and Margarita’s classically trained musicianship coming through in droves. Classy yet camp-as, the comedy’s never far from the surface because, as they say, ‘We have a short life, why would we not laugh?’