Keiynan Lonsdale is ready to take fans “on a ride” as he enters a new era — one filled with brand new music, a few thirst traps, and even some brand new ink.
The actor/musician, who got his big break on The CW’s The Flash before appearing in the gay romcom Love Simon, just released the first single from his upcoming album.
Titled “Body High,” it’s a sultry, R&B-tinged track that evokes the late, great D’Angelo. And, just like that legend and his infamous “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” music video, Lonsdale, 34, has been having some fun showing skin while promoting the single.
Lonsdale spoke with So.Gay following the song’s release, where he opened up about the track, his spicy visuals, how it feels to be a queer artist right now, and how his connection with his fans has evolved from his CW days to now. Plus, he revealed how the CW prepped him for the next stage of his career — and the meaning behind his massive new back tattoo.
So.Gay: With your new single, “Body High,” what were you aiming for and then how does it fit into the bigger picture of your upcoming album?
Keiynan Lonsdale: Really, it was a natural songwriting process for me. I found it to be really soothing. It came from the gut. I hadn’t written in such a long time, and the album had already been, in my head, officially complete. I had no intention of writing this song. And I’m very, very happy that I was gifted “Body High.”
It started out just with me at my friend’s place and I wrote it by myself. It was just a little demo with just the guitar loop. Once I’d fallen in love with it, just for me for a few days, I sent it to my friends and was like, okay, I should get this properly produced. And I’m really glad that I did.
I’m super happy, and in terms of the second part of your question, where it fits on the rest of the album, as a late addition, I think we describe it as the cherry on top of the cake … or where else do you put cherries? It’s just that extra treat on top, whereas the rest of the album is probably a lot more emotional. But I’d like to think that this perhaps grounds it in a different way and finishes the picture.
So.Gay: And is the rest of the album also in this R&B kind of vein?
Keiynan Lonsdale: Yeah, it is. R&B, soulful. We probably explore different realms of R&B. And I don’t know if I would say that the rest of the album is necessarily as hooky or as catchy as this song. But I’ll let other people decide what they think.
So.Gay: Right. Do you have any favorite lyrics from “Body High,” and why do those stand out above the rest for you?
Keiynan Lonsdale: Honestly, I’d probably say the second verse because that’s the only verse that I didn’t write. My friend Chris Jackson wrote the second verse, or rewrote the second verse. I had one that was good. And it was all falsetto, actually. And it just repeated the same melody as the first, but with different lyrics. But after some feedback that we could paint a more interesting picture — and I knew that internally as well — it made sense for me to go to Chris because he is very visual in his songwriting.
You feel it from the beginning. “Lay it all on my chest, babe / My heart is always open for you / Let’s make these silhouettes dance / The walls can feel this point of view / Our inhibitions up in smoke while I lick everything you roll / Then we release till we unfold.” It’s just like, whoa, what?
Those are the lyrics that came as a surprise receiving them back. So they’re probably my favorite. But, outside of that, I’m proud of the lyrics that I wrote just from the very first line, “Every time you call me,” it felt like, oh, we have a story, straight away.
So.Gay: We need to talk a little bit about the Instagram posts you’ve been putting up to promote the new song, because people are very hot and bothered in the comments. I know Angeria Paris VanMichaels from Drag Race said her “Zoom fingers were working overtime,”and your Love Simon costar Alexandra Shipp commented too. Talk me through the spicy visuals.
Keiynan Lonsdale: That particular post was ideated a couple of hours before going up. I have had my fair share of overthinking social media and we’ve shot so much content for this song. Pretty much as soon as I had written the demo, I just started making content, so we’ll have lots to roll out with. I like a little thirst trap every now and then. But I don’t just want to thirst trap, so how do we make it even more playful and fun? And so a collaborator I work with, Matty Pipes. he was over at my place and he just hit me with that idea.
Let’s just smash the artwork, and recreate that feeling of when you’re zooming out on the phone, and layer in more thirst traps. So I’m just hunting for other thirst traps, and it felt good, because I was like, I can just do one, and the rest can be really, really tiny.
So.Gay: Well, the people are happy. Will there be a music video as well? Is there anything you could tease there?
Keiynan Lonsdale: We have a visual, for sure. We have a visualizer. We haven’t shot an official music video. But we delivered the final version to the rest of my team today and they said, “This is a music video.” So, if somebody wants to send a ton of money my way to get a whole production going, I love a music video.
So.Gay: For you, right now, how does it kind of feel to be a queer musician, especially compared to when you first started out and first started releasing music?
Keiynan Lonsdale: It’s a lot more owned for me. I can’t pretend and say that I don’t battle and deal with my own insecurities or comparison and challenges in identity, because I do, but with this album and Body High in particular, I really feel like I’m just owning who I am as a young man and as an artist and as a singer.
So I think the queer liberation, the rebellious act of being queer, is to simply be authentic and whatever that is to you. My prior releases, that was authentic to me at the time of like newly coming out and newly in my skin and whatnot. It’s been some years of navigating being out in the open and being myself. Losing myself, finding him again, breaking him, putting him back together, and that’s a lot of what this music and artistry is. And I think that that speaks to the human experience, as well as, of course, the queer experience.
So.Gay: I know you had an appearance at The Abbey, what else do you have planned to get out there with all the new music that’s coming?
Keiynan Lonsdale: I want to do as many live performances as I can. I’d love to really share the world that’s in my head with this larger body of work. So starting with “Body High,” which is a bit of a tease, and really take people on a ride. The next music that’s coming is potentially even deeper and maybe explores some conflict.
I just want to paint a world for people, so that when they hear the music, they can imagine their own world, and then when they see visuals and me performing either through their phone, TV, or on stage, that they’re just immersed into something, and that we can entertain people and and move them.
So.Gay: You came up through the CW, which is no longer the network it once was, with The Flash. I know a lot of people have kind of compared the network to a training facility or acting school for young stars. How do you think that time prepared you for your greater career?
Keiynan Lonsdale: A training school is actually an amazing framing for it, because it was definitely a machine and you know you move really fast on those. You’re doing a ton of work at really high intensity that not a lot of other projects match in its scale and length. So I would say you really get a lot of your reps in. And I think it’s helped me be super adaptable on sets, as best I can.
One of the challenges, but also one of the great things about a show like Flash or CW, is that we would have so many different directors. One breath, you’re like, I just want to catch a vibe with someone, and I just want to stay in that vibe, you know? And then on the other hand, you’re like, wow, this is so cool. You’re constantly, again, learning how to adapt. So I think that’s a really important skill in this business.
You’re working with people at the end of the day, and different creatives, so you have to know yourself to a point, but also be open to different energies and figure out how you’re going to work together.
So.Gay: I’m also curious how your relationship with The Flash fandom has evolved over time, because obviously a lot of them still follow you from there and are coming with you into this new chapter.
Keiynan Lonsdale: It’s so weird. It’s weird. I don’t know how to describe it. When I meet Flash fans in person, it’s really, really nice. They’re really lovely to me, and I see this twinkle in their eyes, and I see how much the show means and meant to them. I think I always enjoy that.
The community online can sometimes be quite resistant or a little bit childish when it comes to separating my character, that was almost 10 years ago.
So.Gay: I was gonna say, I see a lot of comments like, “Someone must have changed the timeline” on every single post.
Keiynan Lonsdale: It’s a lot of timeline stuff, yeah. They’re being playful too, but I’m like, girl, the timeline’s been changed. It has been changed for a minute. But it’s also cool that they’re still there and people are being constantly reintroduced to those shows at later stages, so I never know where people are at in their journey. I can just make sure that I’m honoring where I’m at in my journey.
So.Gay: I have one last question for you. One of the other Instagram posts you have up right now shows off this new tattoo on your back. Is there a meaning behind it that’s tied to this new era, this new upcoming chapter, or was it just time for new ink?
Keiynan Lonsdale: It was time for new ink. I’ve wanted a dragon for like 10 years. I’ve been obsessed with dragons since I was a kid. I had a song, “Rainbow Dragon,” and I used to write short stories at school, always about dragons.
I knew it was time for me to get it. I needed to step into this new version of myself. And the dragon is like guarding and wrapped around this like big sword that is down my spine, and I’ve dealt with a lot of back issues over the years, to the point of not being able to perform, and not being able to do a great job, and that really affected me in so many ways.
Recovering from that, and bringing myself physically back into alignment, as well as spiritually has been a huge journey for me. And so now I have my guardian angel dragon also, as that reminder that he’s got my back. It helps me accept what is and what isn’t for me.
