“We were calling these songs ‘depression with a beat,’” Bimini tells Apple Music of the six tracks on their debut EP When the Party Ends. “It was telling stories of heartbreak and vulnerability and sadness but to dance music.” After exploding into the British consciousness via the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2021, the Great Yarmouth-born artist, drag queen, and author took their time with those stories, experimenting in the studio and honing the sound they wanted to put out into the world. The result? Snappy pop that blends their love of ’90s dance music with the blunt delivery of Mike Skinner or Lily Allen, alongside witty lyricism that also pulls from deeply personal places. When the Party Ends, adds Bimini, captures “a moment in time,” but it’s also just the beginning. “I’m hoping that when people hear it they can understand that I’ve got something to say,” they add. “And that I’m here to stay. This is what I want to do.” Read on as Bimini walks us through their first EP, one song at a time. “Don’t F*ck With My Groove” “It’s the perfect summertime, barbecue-with-your-friends or driving-in-a-car-with-the-top-down vibe. It’s one of the songs I open my set with and people have really loved it—especially when the drop comes into the chorus. To me, it feels nostalgic but fresh but it also brings in that funniness and wittiness into it. The song is about letting go, and that’s what the narrative of this EP is. It’s the pain you can go through, the heartbreak, the vulnerability. And it’s about hedonism, freedom, euphoria. And having fun. That’s what life’s about—it’s about not taking it too seriously—and trying to enjoy it as much as you can.” “On Pause” “I grew up in Norfolk and there were a lot of raves back then—I was always in the drum ’n’ bass raves. I loved the idea of doing a pop version of drum ’n’ bass, and the chorus of this has got a bit of drum ’n’ bass to it. Originally, there was a lot more singing in the verses, but it just didn’t hit as hard as it does [now], which comes in very raw and emotive. I love that raw British delivery, like Mike Skinner, and I love the juxtaposition: I can have super long blonde hair and really smoky eye make-up and be a bit more femme-presenting, but then come in with this really raw [delivery]. The song is about that feeling of ‘I just need a minute. I need some time to myself away from everything and everyone and to just be able to reflect and get on with things.’” “Different Kinds of People” “I wrote this with Jin Jin, who is an incredible songwriter. It’s about how—as a queer person—people get judged all the time, people don’t accept each other. But at the end of the day, we all want love. We all have the same feeling. You cut me, and we all bleed the same. That’s what the story of this is. It has a progressive house beat to it, and I think elements of Fred again..—it was actually produced by his brother Benjy Gibson. I’m waiting for the call from [video game] FIFA, I feel like it’s such a FIFA track!” “Rodeo” “This song was slept on for a long time, but I loved it from the get-go. We had the sample in there—James Gang’s ‘Ashes the Rain and I’ and Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here, Right Now’—and I love the reference of ‘this ain’t my first rodeo’ just being a silly, fun hook. To me, it’s like a fun, electro-pop-y record, a bit gritty, and it’s still got that vulnerability and storytelling, but with a bit of hope. It’s like coming out the other side.” “Sex Drugs Disco” “This was the first song that was created from this EP, back in 2021. It had a rebirth in 2022, but when we first got into the studio we were just being real about the experience of being at parties and getting caught up in that lifestyle. You can have fun, but it’s about when you take it too far. I wanted to get those experiences across—a lot of queer people can understand that. It was playing on ‘sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll,’ but switching it up to ‘Sex Drugs Disco’ felt a little more me and like it represented the queer experience a bit more. I hope that anyone who listens to it who has gone through partying or addiction, or anything in that realm, can hear a lyric in this that can speak to them.” “When the Party Ends” “I had just split up with my partner. Sometimes it can be that someone’s done something wrong but it wasn’t that—I just sadly wasn’t feeling the way that I was before. It’s about going out and seeing that person. London is big but the gay scene and the queer scene is quite small—so you’re going to bump into people. How do you cope with that situation? It’s about the loneliness that you feel after going home on your own and seeing that person: shit gets real when the party ends.”