I have a CD on my shelf called Songs in the Key of Z. It's a two-disc compilation of outsider music, ranging from well known artists like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart, to lesser known people like Alvin Dahn and Liberian Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker. What all the music has in common is that it's music that is accidentally weird while being incredibly sincere, and I think Azul and their track The Werewolf would fit in perfectly.
This is a 7 minute long psychedelic rock song about a werewolf and the angry mob that wants to kill it. The song explains that the werewolf is just "becoming who they really were", as the mob warns that they shouldn't be allowed to go to school or into bathrooms. Anyone paying attention can probably tell that The Werewolf is a metaphor for the trans community (this is explicitly stated in the song's description, but it's also just pretty obvious).
And so this is where that sincerity comes in, and it does a lot of heavy lifting. There are things to criticise in this track for sure. The drums are obviously synthetic, the vocals lack the necessary punch for a big rock song like this, and for a seven minute song, there really isn't very much melodic variation.
I can hear the problems, you can hear the problems, but I don't think they matter in this context. Azul has something to say and they are going to say it earnestly, confidently, and without any irony, and I think that carries a lot of weight. I've listened to it a bunch of times and I can't help but love it. I also really love the cover art. This song isn't going to be played on Radio 1, but it might be included in the next volume of Songs in the Key of Z.
