EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Boy Blu on the resistance around gay men uplifting other gay men, fantasy, intimacy, control and seductive new single, Platinum Pleasure
"I want the song to convince them to put on that extra slutty jock strap for the night out"
Happy New Music Friday to those who celebrate! I genuinely can’t get over the fact that we’ve got new releases from Loreen, Harry Styles, Agnes, Peter Andre, Michaela Jaé, MIKA, Jason Derulo, noonoouri and Jessie Ware all landing on the same day and it's still only January! Planet pop is thriving and I’m calling it now: 2026 is going to be a very good year for pop music. I’ve also got a feeling techno is about to make a major comeback, mark my words.
Adding to today’s chaos (in the best way obvs), new pop boy, Boy Blu has announced his debut EP Eye of Desire arriving 24.04.26. The six track project is a bold and immersive statement, blending intoxicating electronic textures, sleek pop melodies and raw emotional undercurrents. Across pulsating synths and atmospheric production, Blu captures the tension between longing and indulgence with moments of striking vulnerability woven throughout. Sounds hot, right?!
Leaning fully into fantasy and feeling, Eye of Desire explores desire in all its forms:romantic, physical and self actualised, through songs that feel as cinematic as they are intimate.
Alongside the EP announcement, Boy Blu has also dropped the project’s first official single, Platinum Pleasure which is out now on all streaming platforms. Glimmering, seductive and high gloss, the track explores obsession and allure, pairing silky vocals with propulsive and club ready production. It’s a bold, confident entry point into the Eye of Desire universe.
Speaking about the EP in a press release, Blu said: “Eye of Desire was inspired by the feeling of falling out of desire, whether from a specific person or from the world in general. The songs explore different sides of desire, from desperation and manipulation to moments of absolute confidence. I wrote about holding onto the confidence I had left, even while feeling pushed outside the eye of desire.”
He adds, “My hope is that anyone listening to this EP feels permission to want themselves again and to feel like that bitch always.”
Blending sci-fi fantasy with striking visuals, Boy Blu is firmly one to watch in 2026. I was super lucky to have a proper yap with Blu (who is genuinely lovely by the way) for his first ever UK interview, diving into his provocative, vulnerable and unapologetically pop world. From growing up queer in the American South to carving out his own lane in LA’s alt-pop scene, his story is as compelling as his sound.
We talked desire as power, the making of his seductive new single Platinum Pleasure, dancing his way into pop stardom, queer visibility, fake it till you make it moments and why we should all be hyping each other up louder. There were also pop icon name drops and one very unexpected ick. Trust me, you’ll want to read on so let's dive in head first!
DALEYPOP: Hey Blu! For our readers who haven’t entered the Boy Blu universe yet….can you introduce yourself and tell us about your music without underselling yourself?
BOY BLU: Hey Dale, hey Scene readers! Welcome to the Blu-verse! I'm Boy Blu, an alt pop provocateur artist based in Los Angeles with Southern roots. I think I'd say my music is genre blending but if you had fit it in one area I'd say electro pop with some hyper pop elements. I love high energy, club ready, feel good tracks and you’ll find a lot of that on my upcoming EP, Eye of Desire.
DALEYPOP: Wow good plug there, we'll discuss Eye of Desire soon I pinky promise! How would you describe growing up queer in Atlanta? (I don't know much about cities in the US, only what I see in movies and TV shows so I'm super intrigued).
BOY BLU: Well I grew up in a small town called Flowery Branch which is about 2 hours North of Atlanta and it was scary at times and very isolating. I think I felt very misunderstood a lot of the time for the things that I was interested in. Once I moved to Atlanta I was able to connect with more people who liked the same thing and truly started to feel a sense of community there. There is nothing like the queer scene in Atlanta and I'm SO thankful for that experience. However, I knew I needed more than what Atlanta was giving at the time so it was never a question to move to Los Angeles. But there is always going to be that special hometown Southern charm with me no matter where I decide to go.
DALEYPOP: Is Atlanta a city worth visiting for someone from the UK who’s only been to New York so far?
BOY BLU: Absolutely! It's such a unique city and full of culture and there’s nothing like true southern hospitality. There is something about the way the people from the South are just SO genuinely themselves and I try to hold onto that. You would LOVE it and also the food is INSANE.
DALEYPOP: I've been desperate to ask this one....where did the name Boy Blu come from?!
BOY BLU: This is a fun one, I used to dance/work for Todrick Hall and when we went on one of his tours we all decided to change our hair colour. I did blue hair at the time just because I have always loved blue. BUT then the fans on tour kept saying “there’s the boy with blue hair” or “it's the blue boy” and it kind of turned into this name Boy Blu and I just took it and ran with it. I've recently been loving being called just Blu though.
DALEYPOP: What a cool story! So Blu, you're obviously a professional dancer, right?! With choreography that precise, performing must have always been in your blood?
BOY BLU: Yessss I was a professional dancer for a while. And performing has always been my favourite part and the entire reason I'm doing music now.
There is no feeling quite like nailing a live performance.
I also enjoy the rehearsal process so much. It feels so good to work really hard on something, blood sweat and tears and then to come in and kill it on stage. I can't wait to do more this year hopefully!
DALEYPOP: What’s been your biggest “fake it till you make it” moment in your career so far?
BOY BLU: I think it would have to be my first performance live last year on (Gregory Dillon's) Heaven Hates Me Tour. We barely had time to do a sound check and it was so chaotic because there was so much going on that I was so nervous because I had never done a sound check for myself as the artist and I truly just had to fake it till you make it when I performed and just trust in myself and my own rehearsals that my body and mind would remember everything without getting much time before hand. Plus I was of course doing full choreo and doing WAY too much for my first performance.
DALEYPOP: You can never do too much! Which artists do you shamelessly steal inspo from? (With love of course).
BOY BLU: With Platinum Pleasure specifically I was inspired by Lolo ZouaĂŻ's song PLAYGIRL. It's such a smart concept and I wanted to do something similar to that with this song. The EP was honestly very much inspired by listening to a lot of dark era Britney Spears. Songs like I Got That (Boom Boom), Get Back and Get Naked from Britney were huge inspirations for this EP.
DALEYPOP: Wow you've got taste! If you could collab with anyone, alive or dead, who would make you absolutely feral with excitement?
BOY BLU: I mean there are soooo many artists I would lose my shit about but I'll give you Robyn (because what pop artist wouldn’t want to work with the QUEEN of crying while dancing). Gaga (no explanation needed I'm sure) and FKA twigs would be also such a visual and dancing wet dream come true.
DALEYPOP: Manifesting for you. Ok, tell us more about Platinum Pleasure. You've been teasing it on social media for quite a while now….
BOY BLU: Omg yesss I love that you caught that. I actually wrote and finished this song around this time last year, January 2025. I performed it a few times but I couldn’t find the right moment to release it, so I decided to hold it and drop it in 2026 to start the year off provocative and attention grabbing. That felt exactly right for the energy of the song. I spent a lot of time thinking about desire how it’s used, how it’s manipulated, and how people move through it in different ways. That felt like such an interesting concept to explore and that’s really where Platinum Pleasure was born. And honestly if you listen closely I think you can pick up on what it’s REALLY about....
DALEYPOP: I think I know but won't spoil it for the readers, what would you say was the ultimate inspiration behind PP?
BOY BLU: Like I mentioned before, it came from thinking about desire as power. I was fascinated by the dynamic where someone is paid to embody fantasy, intimacy and control and how that flips the traditional power structure.
DALEYPOP: What do you want people to feel the second they hear PP? Maybe empowered, unholy or euphoric?
BOY BLU: I would love for them to feel all three of those! I want them to feel confident and powerful.
I want the song to give them that extra energy at the gym or convince them to put on that extra slutty jock strap for the night out or just pull them out of a bad day.
That's what I love about music so much and how it helps change my mood and brings me motivation to tackle whatever fucked up challenge comes my way. I love a soundtrack to every part of my life.
DALEYPOP: Same here! By the way, we love the official music video here at Scene HQ, it's giving budget too!
BOY BLU: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm so proud and excited about it. My bestie Jesse Fields choreographed and danced in it too and it's SO SICK.
DALEYPOP: What would baby Boy Blu think of current Boy Blu? Proud? Confused? Slightly alarmed?
BOY BLU: I think he would be SO proud that he stuck to his dream no matter the push back or any of the voices telling him it wasn’t possible.
I think he would be gagged at how he hasn’t lost sight of his pop star vision from high school.
DALEYPOP: Absolutely. In a world that doesn’t always give space freely, how important do you think it is for queer artists to claim their own stage and tell their stories unapologetically?
BOY BLU: It’s honestly so fucking important.
We need more openly queer artists in the mainstream, and we especially need queer people supporting queer pop artists. There’s this strange resistance around gay men uplifting other gay men in pop music, and I don’t think we talk about it enough. We should be hyping each other up loudly.
Queer art matters right now more than ever and we deserve to be the ones telling our own stories instead of waiting for permission.
DALEYPOP: I completely agree with you about the weird resistance some gay men have when it comes to uplifting other gay men in pop (and in life too) and how rarely it gets talked about. We really should be hyping each other up loudly and celebrating each other! That's what pride means to me, I’ve never understood tearing each other down when we’re all walking in the same shoes. It’s just so bizarre. Oh wow that got deep though so let’s lighten things up again, what’s one thing our readers would never guess about you….but won’t get you cancelled?
BOY BLU: I HATE BELLY BUTTONS!
DALEYPOP: Whattttttttttttttttt ha although now I think about it, they are so weird, what was the last thing you Googled?
BOY BLU: I wish it was more scandalous but I recently saw the SICKEST bag at a store here in LA and I was Googling the brand name which is Innerraum.
DALEYPOP: What's your star sign?
BOY BLU: I'm Aries! Fiery and horny!
DALEYPOP: I honestly do get Aries vibes from you. Who's your crush of the day?! It can be a celebrity, a partner or situationship or maybeee a Starbucks barista who smiled at you one time?
BOY BLU: I'm currently crushing so hard on a friend. One of the classic want to be more than friends situations. It's torturous but I'm writing a lot of new music because of it so at least I'm getting something from it! But I highly don't recommend falling in love with your friend!
I'd love to meet a cute British boy!
DALEYPOP: Speaking of cute British boys, do you have any UK shows coming up?! We'd be thrilled to welcome you across the pond. I can so see you at Mighty Hoopla....just saying….
BOY BLU: OMG I would absolutely be so honoured to perform at Mighty Hoopla! It's literally on my bucket list to do it. Also to be able to travel to the UK to perform in general would be a dream come true and I'm determined to make it happen. But to answer your question, no plans....YET!
@theboyblu This should’ve been the song playing during that scene tbh @andrew_arbour
♬ original sound - Boy Blu
Comments ()