Shura Goes Disco on New Single “Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands On Me)”

Shura, the queer British bedroom-pop goddess, is back, and she’s not 2Shy anymore. Her debut album, 2016’s Nothing’s Real, established Shura’s talent at channeling the awkwardness and loneliness of queer youth for misfit anthems like “Touch.” But “BKLYNLDN,” the first single off her forthcoming sophomore album forevher, mixed downtempo R&B and lounge pop in an ode to long-distance booty calls, without a shred of her former reticence.

And it seems like Shura has a good thing going, because her latest song, “religion (u can lay your hands on me),” is all about the ultimate long-distance booty call, the one between a sweet young worshipper and the Lord—the female Lord, obviously. Shura sings in her trademark whispery falsetto over a frisky disco beat, “I want to consecrate your body, turn the water to wine.” On the chorus, Shura abandons all her flirty profane metaphors as the canned string section comes in, bluntly telling her lover that “you can lay your hands on me.” The end result is a campy dance-floor number that fuses the sex of Donna Summer with the ridiculousness of The Weather Girls.

Shura’s forthcoming album forevher is out Aug. 16 on Secretly Canadian. You can preorder the LP here.

Check out Shura’s Young Pope-inspired music video for “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” (dir. Chloe Wallace) below, along with the details of forevher and her tour dates.

forevher Album Art:

forevher Tracklist:
01. thats me, just a sweet melody
02. side effects
03. religion (u can lay your hands on me)
04. the stage
05. BKLYNLDN
06. tommy
07. princess leia
08. flyin’
09. forever
10. control
11. skyline, be mine

Shura Tour Dates:

June
19 – London, U.K. @ Moth Club
27 – Bristol, U.K. @ Louisiana
29 – Worthy Farm, U.K. @ Glastonbury Festival

September
26 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Venue
27 – Seattle, Wash. @ Crocodile
28 – Portland, Ore. @ Doug Fir Lounge
30 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Independent

October
02 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom
03 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Valley Bar
16 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle
17 – Columbus, Ohio @ The Basement
18 – Washington, D.C. @ Union Stage
19 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s
20 – Toronto, Ont. @ Horseshoe Tavern
22 – Boston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall
23 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

November
04 – Paris, France @ Café de la Danse
05 – Cologne, Germany @ Luxor
06 – Munich, Germany @ Ampere
07 – Berlin, Germany @ Lido
08 – Hamburg, Germany @ Mojo
10 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Hotel Cecil
12 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
13 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique Orangerie
14 – London, U.K. @ Roundhouse
16 – Dublin, Ireland @ Academy
17 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Oran Mor
18 – Manchester, U.K. @ O2 Ritz Manchester