Grammy-nominated pop icon, LGBTQ trailblazer, and Queen front man Adam Lambert brings you High Drama, a wonderfully diverse collection of covers with a twist, held together by Adam’s once-in-a-generation voice and trademark flair. And then watching the show the other night, I'm just excited for all the queer representation that we're having right now. Starring Jacob Elordi as Bobby, a hitchhiking serial killer in the summer of 1964, and Zachary Quinto as Jim, the unassuming animal trainer who picks him up by the side of a road in Death Valley, the film does bear traces of latent, off-key zaniness, especially whenever co-star Spanky, a chimpanzee, enters the picture. Songs range from the more recent, Pink’s ‘My Attic’, Billie Eilish’s ‘Getting Older’, an epic rock re-imagining of Lana Del Rey’s ‘West Coast’, to the beautiful interpretation of Noel Coward’s classic ‘Mad About The Boy’.

The actor and playwright Noël Coward wrote the song some 90 years ago about unrequited gay love and the conventions of his time. In "Getting Older," Lambert shows how a composition, even as recently as one by Billie Eilish, can be given a new emotional avenue to explore by a tempo change – a reframed chorus or simply, in this case, the age of the person singing it. Discover and listen to new music releases and 2024's best new album releases this week and every week here. An insightful look into Lambert's taste and influences as an artist, the collection covers a wide array of tracks, from Lana Del Rey's "West Coast" and Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" to the jazz standard, "Mad About The Boy" and Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand The Rain. Since bursting onto the scene on American Idol in 2009, Adam Lambert has enjoyed both pop stardom and, of course, a successful run fronting legendary rock group Queen on tour since 2011.Renowned for re-imagining songs from American Idol to his stirring viral hit with Cher's "Believe", Adam Lambert - the Grammy-nominated pop icon, LGBTQ trailblazer and Queen frontman - brings you High Drama, a wonderfully diverse collection of covers with a twist, held together by Adam’s once-in-a-generation voice and trademark flair. Compare that with Lambert’s twist on SIA’s “Chandelier,” which is a little closer to the original but takes things in a more alternative post-grunge direction. Baltin: Do you feel like given the fact that as a culture we seem to have gotten backwards in so many ways that it becomes even more important for artists to then lead the way and become more vocal going the opposite route? But when you've lived that life for 58 years and you've gone through all that there's a depth and a wisdom you can only get from experience.

The result, High Drama, (★★★★☆) is more than a throwback to his Idol origins — it’s the kind of collection that could only have been put together and delivered by someone confident in his identity as an artist. And I think I've definitely found myself in moments realizing, "Oh, I haven't processed this thing that happened, or I'm in denial about something.Lambert: Yeah, like I said, I think the arts are the biggest tool to push and effect and flip pop culture. Signature tracks from the original artists like Chandelier, West Coast and Sex On Fire come to life this time in a very singular aesthetic, and it screams Adam's song and not cover. Over the past decade, I've explored a few different areas and sounds and energies, and I feel like part of this new chapter in my career is me being really clear on who I am, and what I am, and what I'm not. Lambert is no stranger to this interpretative body of work and shows it from the onset of the record. On December 13, 2022, Lambert performed the lead single " Ordinary World" during the season 22 finale of the The Voice.