It’s Friday, babes, and queer pop has clearly decided we deserve a treat. MUNA and Romy are heading straight for the dancefloor, Girls Aloud are bringing back a British pop masterpiece, CATS is serving ballroom fabulousness and Paloma Faith is stepping into a colourful new era. Here’s what deserves a place on your playlist this weekend.
Some Fridays require serious conversations. Others require a decent pair of headphones, a fabulous outfit and absolutely no intention of behaving sensibly.
Welcome to The Gayly Mirror’s Music Friday, your weekly excuse to turn the volume up and forget the world’s nonsense for a little while.
And this week’s selection? Darling, it’s rather delicious.
MUNA and Romy: Lesbian Trance Has Entered the Chat
Let’s begin with the women who apparently looked at queer pop and decided it needed even more glorious emotional chaos.
MUNA have released the deluxe edition of Dancing on the Wall today, 13 November, featuring four new remixes and reinterpretations from Avalon Emerson, Romy, Arlo Parks and Porches.
But one title has already stolen the show: Dancing on the Wall (Romy in a Lesbian Trance Remix).
Yes, that’s the actual title. And frankly, it’s everything.
Romy, whose work with The xx and as a solo artist has made her a favourite of queer dance music lovers, brings an exciting new dimension to MUNA’s already euphoric sound.
The deluxe edition also includes Avalon Emerson’s Sweet Thing Remix, Arlo Parks’ reworking of So What and Porches’ version of Buzzkiller.
If your weekend needs a soundtrack for dancing through heartbreak, this is probably it.
Girls Aloud: Out of Control Is Back, and So Is Our Teenage Pop Obsession
If MUNA are responsible for tonight’s queer clubbing, Girls Aloud have just taken care of the nostalgia.
The British pop icons have reissued their 2008 album Out of Control today, with a deluxe three-CD edition featuring rare recordings, remixes, live performances and previously unreleased material.
And honestly, this album deserves flowers.
The Promise, The Loving Kind and Untouchable represent an era when British girl-group pop was dramatic, stylish and wonderfully unafraid of being completely over the top.
Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and the late Sarah Harding gave us a catalogue that still feels essential to British queer-pop culture.
The new edition includes four exclusive 2026 bonus tracks, among them Thinking ‘Bout the Lonely and Starlight.
Does this mean we’re about to spend Friday night pretending it’s 2008 again? Absolutely.
CATS: The Jellicle Ball Is Serving Ballroom Fabulousness
Broadway’s most fabulous collection of felines has another musical treat for us.
Atlantic Records has released Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from CATS: The Jellicle Ball, performed by Jonathan Burke and Dava Huesca.
The single previews the production’s original Broadway cast recording, scheduled for release on 12 February 2027.
But this isn’t your grandmother’s Cats.
The acclaimed production reimagines Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical through the energy of LGBTQ+ ballroom culture, with voguing, spectacular fashion and the kind of runway attitude that could make even the fiercest Drag Race queen nervous.
Earlier this year, costume designer Qween Jean also made Tony Awards history as the first openly transgender woman to win the prestigious theatre honour.
The Broadway production closed in August, but its legacy and music are clearly continuing.
And finally, British pop’s gloriously theatrical queen has returned.
Paloma Faith has released her new single Gone today, alongside the announcement of her seventh studio album, In Full Colour, arriving on 5 March 2027.
She has also announced an 18-date UK tour for next year.
After The Glorification of Sadness, which explored the breakdown of her relationship, Paloma is embracing a more optimistic creative direction.
That doesn’t mean Gone is pretending everything is perfect. Its retro, Seventies-inspired soul sound accompanies a reflection on loneliness, fame and the strange experience of being seen by thousands of people while still feeling invisible.
Very Paloma, really. Beautifully dressed, emotionally complicated and absolutely determined to make an entrance.
Her new album promises a brighter chapter, and we’re rather ready for it.
Because sometimes choosing joy is a statement in itself.
From Romy’s lesbian trance to Girls Aloud nostalgia, from the ballroom glamour of CATS to Paloma Faith’s latest reinvention, this week’s new releases have one thing in common: they remind us just how much fun music can be.
We’ve always believed queer culture deserves serious journalism, but it also deserves the freedom to be joyful, ridiculous, nostalgic and unapologetically fabulous.
So tell us, what’s going straight onto your playlist?
MUNA, Girls Aloud, CATS or Paloma Faith? Whichever you choose, darling, turn it up. It’s Music Friday.
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