The Irrepressibles

The brainchild of Jamie McDermott, The
Irrepressibles found fame with their baroque pop that often dealt with queer
relationships, as well as their unique live shows. McDermott’s musical
education began on piano, and he would later study art. Those two interests
would come together when he started the first Irrepressibles projects in 2002 as
the singer, lead guitarist, and songwriter. They became known as a “performance
orchestra” and they would deliver theatrical, visually detailed concerts in
venues as wide-ranging as Roman amphitheaters and art galleries. They gained
notice at the 2008 Latitude Festival where they played their set on a stage that
floated on a lake. Their first album, 2010’s Mirror Mirror, earned
strong reviews. The album’s single, “In This Shirt”, became their best-known
song—it appeared in multiple television ads and movie trailers. McDermott
focused his thematic concerns on the power and beauty of homosexual love on 2012’s
Nude, and the group issued three EPs over the next two years that
further explored the album’s ideas. At this time, McDermott changed his name to
Jamie Irrespressible. Three singles released in 2018 (“Submission”, “Anxiety”,
and “Dominance”) were advertised as being part of their forthcoming
album, but the Germanic influenced LP, Superheroes, did not come out until
2020.