Adam Lambert wants his flowers

With his bombastic vocals, platform heels and dedication to eyeliner, Adam Lambert has been famous for his theatricality for nearly two decades, but he only made his Broadway debut a couple years ago. In 2024, Lambert took on the role of the Emcee in the lauded and very queer revival of Cabaret, setting off a season of change in his life.

After spending time in New York for the production, he decided to make the city his new home base, leaving behind Los Angeles, where he’d spent most of his adult life, and splitting from his boyfriend of several years. And he headed into the studio, newly inspired, to craft what would become his sixth studio album, ADAM, due out July 10.

The first single, the raucous “EAT U ALIVE,” saw Lambert return to full rock star mode after taking a detour into the club on his steamy electronic EP Afters in 2024. This week he released the album’s second single, “Under The Rhythm,” which marries the record’s industrial ’90s inspiration with Lambert’s trademark camp sensibility and an interpolation of the Eurodance classic “Around the World” by A Touch of Class.

Ahead of the release of ADAM, Lambert spoke to Xtra about his new music, self-acceptance and dating on both coasts. 

Let’s talk about “Eat U Alive,” the first single. It’s carnal. One might say it’s a bit lascivious. Is there something that inspired that song?

I don’t know if it’s safe for work to talk about, but there’s a couple things.

You’re talking to a queer publication, you can go in. 

I like to eat!

Anything in particular you like to eat, Adam?

I’m good at eating.

You’re good? I’m happy to hear that.

Share it with the world!

I will let everyone know. 

Please, because I’m single. That would be great. And I’m talking about going to restaurants, of course. 

How’s the single life treating you?

The energy is different in New York, the guys are different, the gay scene is different. I feel like I’ve met more gay guys with real jobs than in L.A.

You’re not inundated with creative directors? 

Everyone in L.A. that I kept meeting was either on OnlyFans or a reality wannabe or something.

We need to talk about the cover of your upcoming album, ADAM. It’s a serve! What was it like to work with the famed fashion photographer Nick Knight?

He’s a legend. Someone mentioned his name and it was like, “Oh yeah, right. He’s not going to want to do this.” We reached out and he wanted to do it. I was just so excited.

You look like a super-buff Tin Man in the photo. 

I’ve heard that! I’ve seen a few things online and I get a kick out of all of it. If we’re going with Tin Man, there’s a lot of symbolism around that, of putting up your armour and protecting yourself, protecting the soft, squishy centre, which I find I’ve had to do a bit of as a queer person living in America right now. Times are tricky. That statue is stone and metal. It’s armour protecting me.

The inspiration is a monument. I’m not brand new. I’ve been here for a minute. The statue has some chips on the shoulder. There’s some rust. There’s some parts that are eroding. But I’m still standing. That’s the message of it.

It also reminds me of drag kings. A lot of your looks actually do.

I’ve been very flattered to have been performed by drag kings. I am very, very flattered, it’s so cool.

The second single, “Under The Rhythm” interpolates “Around the World” by A Touch of Class. How did you land on that as a reference point?

The rest of the song was written. We started recording it and listening to it and I heard it and was like, “Do you know what this reminds me of?” I started singing ‘La, la, la, la, la!’ We all went, “Shit, we should put that in the song.” That’s more complicated than you might think. You’ve got to ask a lot of people’s permission, make a lot of deals and go through a lot of hoops. But we made it happen and I’m very excited. 

It’s also a pretty camp choice. 

Yeah! Totally. And it’s kind of queer, you know?

You’re not afraid to be irreverent. Ever!

Never. And I love the message of it too, because it’s about going, “Look, we all go through shit. Pick yourself up, learn how to push on.” It’s got a good sort of message to it. It’s hopeful even though it’s acknowledging the struggle. 

And self-acceptance and resilience are eternal queer themes.

Absolutely. 

Why the title ADAM? You’ve never done a self-titled album before. 

The album talks about self-acceptance: being able to look in the mirror and accept the good and bad parts of yourself, which is not always easy for your ego to do. It takes a certain amount of comfort in your own skin, and that’s been a journey that I’ve been on for many years. The album, song to song, goes there. There’s songs about bad habits and bad choices and being a dick. And there’s other songs that are about the good stuff—romance and dreaming and having fun and perseverance.

Is there anything else about the album you wanted to mention?

For the longest time I always, almost in a pageantry kind of way, said the right thing or gave the most diplomatic answers. To be totally blunt, I’m like: bitch, I’m still here, give me my flowers. Put respect on my name. I feel like I’ve earned it.