The ever-subversive and fiercely provocative Boyfriend unveils her latest creation—
a boundary-pushing musical featuring a powerhouse lineup of collaborators, including:
Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Billy Porter, Peaches, and Big Freedia.
? In the Garden is out now via Big Freedia’s Queen Diva Music.
Enter the Garden—this isn’t the story you heard in Sunday school.
Photo Credit: Hunter Holder | @hunterholder
Boyfriend releases groundbreaking queen feminist concept album In The Garden.
Featuring Jake Shears, Billy Porter, Peaches, and Big Freedia
Out now via Big Freedia’s Queen Diva Music / The Orchard
? PURCHASE / STREAM “IN THE GARDEN”
Singer, songwriter, producer, and performer Boyfriend unveils her most ambitious project to date: In The Garden, a radical reimagining of the Adam and Eve myth told through a bold, queer, and feminist lens. Part musical, part pop album and part cultural provocation, this genre-blurring release is a dazzling fusion of music, theater and subversive social commentary.
A fully immersive narrative project, In The Garden brings together a stellar cast of collaborators: Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) as Adam, Peaches as The Serpent, Big Freedia as a diva-fied God, and Billy Porter as the omniscient narrator. Released today via Big Freedia’s Queen Diva Music (distributed by The Orchard), the album reframes the Genesis tale with Eve at the center—curious, autonomous, and unapologetically rebellious.
The album was first introduced with the single “CURIOUS,” followed by “FIGHT” featuring Jake Shears, who lends theatrical swagger to a reimagined Adam—a complacent foil to Eve’s awakening. The third single, “BITE,” an electro-pop anthem for the most infamous bite in history, dropped last month.
More than just a retelling, In The Garden reclaims Eden as a site of transformation. In Boyfriend’s version, Eve isn’t punished for her curiosity—she’s empowered by it. The Serpent doesn’t deceive—she inspires. And God, as played by Big Freedia, is not a wrathful patriarch, but a hot-tempered showstopper with divine charisma. The result is a liberating reinterpretation that challenges patriarchal and heteronormative readings of one of history’s oldest stories.
Queerness is not just present—it’s foundational. From the campy brilliance of Jake Shears’ Adam to Peaches’ gender-blurring Serpent and Big Freedia’s unstoppable divine energy, In The Garden dismantles rigid binaries and celebrates fluidity, performance, and resistance. The album is as thematically bold as it is musically adventurous, described by Boyfriend as “show tunes disguised as songs for New Music Friday.”
Executive produced by Alex Krispin (Daniel Lanois), with contributions from Asa Taccone (Portugal. The Man), Little Shalimar (Run The Jewels), Joseph Shirley (Creed II, The Mandalorian), and Gold Glove (Slayyyter, Big Freedia), the album bridges alt-pop hooks with theatrical storytelling.
Boyfriend premiered In The Garden live on April 26 at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans, followed by a release celebration at New York City’s iconic Joe’s Pub. The live show mirrors the album’s theatrical scope, with characters brought to life on stage while featured artists’ voices echo through recorded performances.
Building on her legacy as a fierce, theatrical provocateur, In The Garden represents the culmination of Boyfriend’s decade-long exploration of gender, performance, and power. Her past work—often a hybrid of burlesque, drag, experimental pop, and high-concept satire—has garnered widespread acclaim and placed her in collaboration with a diverse roster of artists including Charli XCX, Mykki Blanco, Pussy Riot, Pom Pom Squad, and Cimafunk.
Boyfriend’s live shows have earned her top billing at festivals like Outside Lands (praised by Rolling Stone) and a key feature in the Grammy-winning “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story.” She’s appeared in Bonnaroo’s SuperJam alongside Jon Batiste and Chance the Rapper, and has previously tackled musical theater in “Hag.,” her own interactive stage production, as well as on “Playbill” with Broadway’s Laura Osnes.
With In The Garden, Boyfriend steps fully into the realm of theatrical auteur, transforming sacred text into a platform for queer liberation and feminist reimagination. It’s not just a new take on the beginning of time—it’s a vision for a future where curiosity is sacred, resistance is divine, and Eden belongs to everyone.
Photo Credit: Hunter Holder | @hunterholder
Tracklist:
1. PROLOGUE featuring Billy Porter
2. CREATION featuring Big Freedia
3. ENTER EVE featuring Billy Porter
4. EVE
5. ENTER ADAM featuring Billy Porter
6. ADAM featuring Jake Shears
7. PARTY featuring Jake Shears
8. PROTASIS featuring Billy Porter
9. RULES featuring Big Freedia
10. ENTER SERPENT featuring Billy Porter
11. SERPENT featuring Peaches
12. EPITASIS featuring Billy Porter
13. CURIOUS
14. CATASTASIS featuring Billy Porter
15. WANT
16. DEBATE featuring Peaches
17. CATASTROPHE featuring Billy Porter
18. BITE
19. CURSE featuring Big Freedia
20. FIGHT featuring Jake Shears
21. EPILOGUE featuring Billy Porter
22. PARADISE LOST
BOYFRIEND – TOUR 2025
APRIL
26 – New Orleans, LA – Esplanade Studios
27 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
MAY
3 – New Orleans, LA – Toulouse Theatre*
6 – New York, NY – Joe’s Pub
*Backed by Members of The Revivalists
CONNECT WITH BOYFRIEND
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