One of my favourite not-so-guilty pleasure TV shows is RuPaul’s Drag Race. I absolutely love the series and have seen all of the seasons to date. One of my favourite former contestants is Jinkx Monsoon (real name, Jerick Hoffer), who won the fifth season of the show.

Like many RPDR contestants before her, Jinkx is releasing an album of her own music, titled The Inevitable Album. Unlike many of the contestants before her, Jinkx can actually sing!

This is made evident on the album’s lead single, “Coffee & Wine.” It really bears repeating that most of the contestants that come out of the show and release singles can’t actually sing (seriously, some of them should just stick to the lip syncing), but Jinkx has considerable vocal talent. Though I would never say Jinkx is an amazing vocalist, she sounds exquisite on the this track, and her voice is as smooth and velvety as the song is.

The track has an old-fashioned, 1940’s cabaret feel to it, which goes right along with Jinkx’s drag persona. Though the lyrics aren’t anything to write home about (the chorus mostly consists of Jinkx purring, “Let me tell you ’bout coffee & wine” and as far as I can tell, there’s no real discernible meaning to the song), the highlight of the song is really the throwback sound and Jinkx’s classy delivery.

When I compare “Coffee & Wine” to some of the other singles I’ve heard from Drag Race alumni, it blows all of them out of the water (yes, even Raja’s single, and Raja is my favourite contestant of all time!). But even without that comparison, “Coffee & Wine” is an elegant and catchy song. I’m definitely looking forward to checking out The Inevitable Album and seeing what else Miss Jinkx Monsoon has to offer.

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Check out “Coffee & Wine” here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1sKRL0u3h4]