Following the seductive single RUDE and the high-energy crush of I LIKE U, Dean Street showcases a different facet of GIMI’s sound and songwriting, and takes you on an emotional exploration of lost love and friendship through the heart of Soho.
Dean Street is a synth heavy dreamy pop song about returning to the city that shaped you and looking back on your youth. GIMI moved to London as a 20 year old to study music and follow his dream of becoming an artist.
“I remember the night before my flight, I couldn’t sleep from all the nerves. And as an angsty 20 year old I got up and wrote “I’m not running I’m choosing” on my bedroom wall in big letters. Just telling this story feels so cringy, haha, but looking back I definitely did both. I ran away from the reality of living in this tiny border town as the only queer kid and I had so many dreams as well. Both dreams for my music but also dreams of belonging”
It was in London GIMI found himself and a community.
“London shaped who I am,” he explains. “Moving there at 20 from my small hometown in South Denmark, I finally felt free to be myself, finding my identity on the very streets I’m writing about in the song. It’s where I fell in love, in the queue to G-A-Y Late, and where my friends became my chosen family”
Listen to Dean Street …
G-A-Y Late, a well known London LGBTQ+ club, is one of many queer spaces that recently faced closure in the UK, a trend mirrored globally.
“I feel like queer spaces are so important and are such a hub for finding your people. I found so much comfort and safety within these spaces”.
Talking about the song and this specific time in his life, GIMI continues:
“I feel like I created an audial supercut with this song,” he explains. “Like when I hear it back, all the memories come flashing back of me and the gang running around Soho making bad decisions.”
GIMI recently had two songs featured in the new Sundance premiering queer romantic drama Sauna directed by Mathias Broe. A movie that made Danish cinema history for having the first trans lead in a feature film.
Much like the movie Sauna, Dean Street delves into love, friendship, identity, and community. These elements are often deeply intertwined, particularly for queer individuals, where friends, love, and community are not just connections, but important safe spaces that become one’s chosen family.
Dean Street is a nostalgic love letter to GIMI’s chosen family, a community that had a home within the queer spaces that are now facing closure. Its release serves as a reminder of the importance of these chosen bonds, which, like the spaces that nurtured them, deserve to be remembered and celebrated.
Dean Street is out now.
