Emily Thomas gives into temptation in the sensual new music video for "Taste Of You."
The video begins with Thomas flirting with a male bartender she wants to "sip on," but ultimately ends with a gender-flipping twist.
This is 28-year-old's first music video and she expressed to PRIDE that she was actually a bit nervous to start a music career at this point in her life, but after seeing a Facebook post that said it takes 13 hours to build a Toyota and 6 months to build a Rolls Royce, she "chilled out."
PRIDE caught up with Thomas to talk about her new single, sexuality, religion, and coming out.
PRIDE: Who are some of your musical influences?
Thomas: Recently, I’ve been really into HER, Sinead Harnett, Daniel Caesar, and Sabrina Claudio.
Who are some of your queer influences?
I’d imagine most people would answer with a celebrity, but my strongest influences are definitely my LGBTQIA peers in college. College was the first place I could think freely for myself. It was a catalyst for discovering my true self as an adult.
How would you describe your own music?
Soul-pop. My music definitely falls into the pop category, but a ton of my inspiration comes from the R&B world.
How do you identify?
I have a really hard time identifying with any of the terms due to the negative connotations that come along from my conservative upbringing. My answer for that question is that I love humans regardless of gender or race.
In your new music video for "Taste Of You," some of the lyrics include, "the thing I want is you, I don’t know what to do," and "I never knew I could get tipsy on you. Feeling confused," which foreshadow the twist at the end when we see that who you desire is a woman. Does this reflect your real life coming out journey?
Absolutely. Especially "I never knew," because I never knew it was okay to love freely and openly until I got to college. It also reflects the acceptance of myself, and how I found my honesty. I thought that everyone went through a young curious phase as a child. When I discovered that this was not the case, I had to accept that this was maybe something that was part of me.
Was there a particular moment that inspired the track?
I had an experience with a bartender where attraction was created with the help of the barrier of the bar, making the bartender intangible. That barrier was broken one night, and I wanted that part of the story to be shown in the music video. It flashes, breaking the barrier of the bar with both the male bartender and the female bartender to represent my identity of loving humans regardless of gender.
Why was this song important for you to release during Pride Month?
Fate definitely played a big role. I was actually planning to release the video back in early May, but the editing is a very tedious process. Once I realized it was close enough to Pride weekend, I thought it would definitely be worth the wait to celebrate with my New York community over Pride weekend. Patience is a virtue after all.
Watch "Taste of You" in the video below!
