Single Review: Detweiler - Passionista

‘Passionista’ is a love story. This is the tale of a Northerner who fell for a Southerner in the Midlands - more precisely, in Falafel Munch, found in Birmingham’s student suburb, Selly Oak. The song takes its title from the eponymous smoothie that they both ordered on their first date. The Passionista (the smoothie) is made of passion fruit, mango, and pineapple - ‘Passionista’ (the song) is made of heart, soul, and queer self-acceptance.

Detweiler are Hartlepool-born siblings David and Marianne Holt, and this is their first release of 2021. It follows last summer’s ‘Dunno’, and while ‘Passionista’ is equally as moving, it also represents a new house-inspired direction for the duo. 

What’s particularly special about this track is that it celebrates the importance of platonic as well as romantic love. It opens with an infectious beat, immediately followed by the couplet:

 ‘Living through my past life, to stop me feeling blue / Don’t know what on Earth I’d do without you’. 

These lines explore the formative university friendships that helped Marianne to feel more comfortable in her sexuality. This theme is developed throughout the first verse as higher notes and a distorted backing vocal indicate a tonal shift. David crafts the track’s multi-textured melody - his cyclical bassline is a perfect accompaniment to Marianne’s heartfelt lyrics. 

The track takes the listener on a transcendent journey through space and time, from the weight of homophobia (‘Out of the frying pan, naive to think the fire would miss me’), right through to the elation of true love (‘I’m dazed by your sublime’). It charts a powerful shift from repression to self-expression, interspersed with hazy nights out in Birmingham’s Gay Village (‘Softening the shame descending to the streets that make no sense’).

The accompanying video for ‘Passionista’, directed and shot by Marianne’s girlfriend Scarlet Pestell, perfectly encapsulates the emotional rollercoaster detailed in the lyrics. An explosion of colour, love, and light, it is equally touching and exhilarating.

As ‘Passionista’ draws to a close, the listener is left with a sense of optimism and relief. Coming out is a continual process for LGBT+ people, and it can be painful, but also hugely cathartic. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to - but for the time being, young queer listeners are reassured that ‘we’ve got so much more to look forward to now’.

Words: Rosie Crabbe