Glistening with shimmery synths and thumping with bravado, Brasko’s bold full-length debut SEXDREAMSUPERSTAR is a provocative sonic feat that explores sexual ambiguity and humanity’s inherent desire for connection. Brasko is the project of Jordan Gable, a singer-songwriter-turned-glam-pop-artist from Akron, Ohio, who’s been a Nashville resident since 2011. Gable moved to Music City shortly after graduating from high school and spent his early career writing songs for other artists and releasing music under his birth name.
In those days, critics compared him to Jason Mraz, and while his early music did possess some cheery, Mraz-ian qualities, Gable’s edgy tenor and androgynous look broke from the conventions of your typical singer-songwriter. But after years of writing sessions, Gable began to question his own creative direction.
“I was feeling super lost,” he says in a phone conversation with the Scene. “I had all these weird songs, and I wasn’t sure what to do with them.”
At the time, the songs Gable was writing sounded nothing like his old material. They were dark and intense, and they dealt with more intimate and sexual themes. Stumped on what path to take next, he took a moment to reassess.
The galvanizing force for Gable’s creative metamorphosis turned out to be the 1966 musical Cabaret — in particular, the incandescent character of the Emcee, or Master of Ceremonies, whom Gable calls “the most rock ’n’ roll thing I’ve ever seen.” Originated by Joel Grey (who won both a Tony for his stage work and an Oscar for the 1972 film) and later portrayed by a parade of greats like Alan Cumming and Michael C. Hall, the Emcee is a larger-than-life cross-dressing man with serious attitude and vocal chops. After seeing the play for the first time, Gable decided the Emcee was the perfect reference point for his new project.
When Gable started Brasko in 2017, his intention was to create a flamboyant, sexually ambiguous character to throw himself behind — like the Emcee, or even Prince. But Gable quickly realized that this character was actually an extension of himself, and that he shouldn’t separate himself from those dramatic and androgynous aspects of his selfhood. Gable identifies as a heterosexual male, but androgyny has always been a way he’s explored his sexual identity. If you check out Brasko’s Instagram account, you’ll quickly notice the tight leather and frills. A strong aesthetic is essential in the making of a glam-pop artist, but the ruffles and high heels have opened Brasko up to questions and scrutiny, and Gable recognizes that his relative silence about Brasko’s origins has created its share of confusion. “People say, ‘Oh, he must be gay,’ because of the way I dress,” he says.
Slowly but surely, Gable has become more open when talking about Brasko. His response to naysayers is to go one step further in emphasizing the fluid concept behind his act. He dresses in drag and performs as Brasko’s alter ego Isabelle, in hopes that the playfulness and celebration of the spectrum of sexual identity will attract new listeners and dispel narrow-minded critiques.
The hook-driven songs on SEXDREAMSUPERSTAR, perfect for a night out with friends on the dance floor, should also help him get his point across. Despite some padding with skits, album tracks like “Static” and “Lipstick Stains” feature understated but insistent disco beats and catchy tags — don’t be surprised to find yourself singing “I ain’t going to leave / Without your lipstick stains on me” under your breath. One standout is “Vertigo,” which teases with erotic lines as Gable sings: “Got me so spiritual / Laying here vertical / And your dress starts coming off / Bedsheets in circles.”
Brasko sings of love, lust, pain and pleasure, exposing the multitude of emotional experiences we encounter through the desire for intimacy, sexual or otherwise. Moments depicting fun and intense sexual encounters underscore what the record means to Gable. “It’s about the serotonin rush everyone is trying to experience through connection with others,” he says.
Gable acknowledges that he is far from the first straight white dude with a guitar to dress like a woman. Closing out the record is a sensual cover of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy.” Gable cites late T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan as one of Brasko’s essential influences. “He appeared on TV dressed as a girl before anyone else did. That was everything to me.”
Bolan was serious about not taking himself too seriously, and thus spent his too-short career doing whatever the fuck he wanted to do. On SEXDREAMSUPERSTAR, Gable follows suit, glamour and sex appeal intact, with songs for your dancing pleasure.
