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With a history of making indie rock and even flirting with metal, Public Universal Friend may surprise listeners with rootsy accents of banjo, fiddle, dobro and lap steel guitar heard on new album “Chrysalis.”
Band leader Jody Friend said the Americana style may not stick around, but it’s the right one at the right time.
“It’s part of my spectrum of sound that I wanted to show as something we can do,” Friend said. “If the fan base gets used to a lot of variety, that’s way better than being pigeonholed.”
Beneath the sonic textures, there’s intention driving the rustic record suggestive of the South.
Before coming out as a gay transgender woman in Indianapolis, Friend grew up in Tennessee.
Similar to Brandi Carlile, Angel Olsen and Amythyst Kiah, Friend said she’s an LGBTQ artist “making music that is traditionally associated with the sorts of people who would discriminate against us.”
Following an instrumental invocation titled “Trans Lament,” “Chrysalis” opens with “Jesus, Pt. 1,” a gentle ballad with a pace similar to Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” In contrast to “Sunday Morning’s” grappling with substance abuse, Friend uses lyrics to address the “general conservative ideation” of her upbringing.
“They say I am an abomination,” Friend sings, “then I guess I’ll see you all in Hell.”
Friend’s vulnerable delivery of the line makes it more magnanimous than a lashing out.
“I think the album is for anyone who comes from anywhere listening to us,” she said. “There are open-minded, liberal young people who are listening to this and immediately getting it. Then there are some folks who think, ‘I ain’t never heard of queer country before.’ ”
The best-case scenario, Friend said, would be for “Chrysalis” to bridge gaps of understanding among people.
“I don’t make anything necessarily easier for listeners from the outside circles of this kind of music,” she said. “But if someone does want to be a part of it and is venturing into it with this album, I want [understanding] to be a possibility.”
Public Universal Friend, a band name inspired by a 1770s Rhode Island evangelist who rejected gender pronouns, released its debut album, “Perennials,” in 2021.
Friend said “Perennials” served as an initiation record that accompanied her coming out. “Chrysalis,” she said, represents an era of “Now what?”
“There’s not a lot of stories about trans people living their lives,” Friend said. “There’s a lot of stories about trans people dying or coming out. The in-between is something severely understated.”
One “Chrysalis” song, titled “The Show,” addresses a universal experience among musicians: learning that someone you specifically invited to the gig won’t make it after all.
Public Universal Friend is hoping for strong RSVP results on Friday, when the band celebrates the release of “Chrysalis” at Fountain Square venue White Rabbit Cabaret. Friend said the show will encompass multiple sonic sides of the band, which will be joined by a string quintet.
In addition to Friend, PUF’s roster includes guitarist Adam Shuntich, bass player Ty Mason, drummer Jacob Powell, keyboard player Mina Keohane, percussionist Phil Lofton and violinist Anna Hasler.
Sibling duo Lily & Madeleine will perform before Public Universal Friend, and Madeleine Jurkiewicz will join PUF’s lineup as a guest vocalist. Friend and Jurkiewicz co-wrote “Chrysalis” song “Horrorscope,” a tune inspired by dating misadventures that followed Friend’s coming out.
Jurkiewicz, known for crafting memorable vocal harmonies with her sister, contributed vocals to multiple songs on “Chrysalis.”
“I’m picky with that type of collaboration,” Friend said. “It’s very personal. It’s one thing to work with a producer or someone on a video. It’s different to have someone actually sing on a song. I thought, ‘OK, this is risky.’ But it was worth it.”
Public Universal Friend
- When: 9 p.m. March 24.
- Where: White Rabbit Cabaret, 1116 Prospect St.
- Tickets: $15 if purchased in advance.
- Info: Visit whiterabbitcabaret.com.
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