Hayley Kiyoko continues to go where few pop stars have gone before her.
The actress and rising pop star Hayley Kiyoko, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community, has regularly infused queer themes and subject matter in her music and videos since she burst onto the scene two years ago with the hit “Girls Like Girls.”
She has consistently been making the best queer music videos of the last few years, and that’s because they don’t just hint at the lesbian experience—they inhabit it unapologetically. Who among us hasn’t longed for an unavailable woman—or been that unavailable woman?
On January, Hayley Kiyoko released her music video for “Curious,” the hook-heavy, sultry lead single off her debut album, Expectations, out March 30.
In the clip, Hayley navigates the awkward tension of working into an ex-girlfriend at a residence party-an old flame that is constantly on the burn off for the pop star, despite having a fresh partner who just so is actually in the room-as she dances her way through the hallways.
“Calling me personally up so later at night / Are we just friends? / You say you desired me, but you’re sleeping with him,” the musician sings over a lush soundscape of shimmering synths and thumping beats, finally requesting, “I’m just wondering, is it serious?”
The emotionally-charged, self-directed video climaxes with a steamy bathroom rendezvous before Hayley, sick and tired of her flirtatious ex-lover’s toxic back-and-forth and indecision, progresses for good.
“I’m so excited to start my debut record with ‘Curious,'” Hayley explained in a news release. “This track is all about self-respect and knowing when to leave when someone you value is playing games. The treatment I developed for the video helps gets that time across in a fun and tongue-in-cheek way. I am hoping people connect to it and can’t await everyone to see it!”
“Curious” is now available as a single but is also part of Kiyoko’s forthcoming album, Expectations, which, BTW, has incredibly awesome cover art because of course it does.