Queer pop star on the rise THORNE drops new single “Honey” – and, girl, is it sweet, writes Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier.
Barbados-born, Guyanese-Australian queer pop artist Luke Thorne – better known by their stage name THORNE – returns to their well-deserved place in the spotlight with sultry new single “Honey”.
Glistening with queer confidence, hip-grinding R&B beats and a dreamy sepia-drenched music video that makes even shorts and a vest feel like too much clothing, “Honey” is the first of three singles THORNE will be dropping in the run-up to their EP release in the latter half of 2025.
To celebrate the new single’s release, which went live on 21 May, THORNE will be officially launching the song with a live performance at storied live music venue Shotkickers in, appropriately enough, Thornbury in Melbourne.
Not that they have exactly kept quiet about all of this, having been hounded repeatedly by friends of his who appeared in the steamy music video. “They’ve been like, ‘When’s it coming out?’ ‘What does it look like?’ ‘Do I look good?’” he says. “So when it finally released, I got a whole bunch of friends together who were in it and they were like, ‘Oh my god, this looks crazy!’”
Fair to say there was no end of positive feedback, with the compliments being dished out for everything from the video’s beguiling, frenetic camera work, to the makeup Luke sports in the video itself. Since its release, the video has begun to find audiences outside of Luke’s own network of friends and collaborators.
“I got a really nice comment the other day from someone,” he reveals, “saying this video is way too good not to have more views on it, which was such a nice compliment! So we’re slowly getting out there, trying to push it and get more people in there, so I think that will take a matter of time.”
Filmed in a rented Airbnb in Pascoe Vale in Melbourne, the video was directed by Zoe Robinson and produced by Andrea Ward of Checklist Productions. As well as dripping with the sex-soaked aura of an early-morning house party, the shoot for the video itself also comes with a funny story behind it.
“We were meant to film it at my dad’s house,” Luke says, “and I sent him the script, but he came back going, ‘I feel really uncomfortable with you filming this in my house; it kind of feels soft porn. I don’t want this associated with my house.’ So we had, like, two days’ notice to find somewhere else!”
Luckily the director found a rental that, as luck would have it, fared better as a shooting location than anything the creative team could have hoped for. The incident ultimately transpired to be something of a blessing, Luke reflects, with the realisation that “if something makes my dad uncomfortable, then I should lean into the direction that I’m going!”
Luke’s performance at Shotkickers will be supported by queer Palestinian R&B artist SIM, and Isadora Lauritz, a fellow queer R&B singer and friend from Luke’s university days. “And then it’s me, obviously!” Luke says with a laugh. “I’m gonna be performing my new single and a whole set of original music. It’s all super sexy and very, like, queer R&B vibes. It’ll be a safe space for community, where everyone just gets to come and express themselves and just like look cute! And, hopefully, really vibe out with the music.”
Luke Thorne (THORNE) will be performing at the launch party for his new single “Honey” at Shotkickers in Thornbury, Melbourne. He will be performing at 8:00pm on Saturday 21 June 2025. Chck out the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIAIHnPBH44
