(Image via Simon Curtis)

My friend Simon Curtis is a highly accomplished indie musician and book author, and he's now coming back strong with two singles you must hear.

I'm in love with “Graduate,” a song about a life shift (that should also be embraced around graduation time going forward). Of the track, he tells me:

“Graduate” is an anthem dedicated to evolution, to growth, and shedding all the bullshit. After turning 30, it was amazing to see how much my perspective on life shifted, and how rarely people address this phenomenon in pop culture. I felt like I needed to write a song for anyone going through their Saturn return, or any life shift in general. It's about catharsis, and liberation.

He summed up the gay-anthem-on-impact “Rainbow”:

I wrote [it] one day while driving. I just started singing it, from start to finish... and it was pouring rain in LA., and for whatever reason the song just popped into my head, and before I knew it I was sobbing and singing into my voice notes. It definitely feels like the most special song I've ever written. My first word ever as a baby was “rainbow,” so it really feels like so much of my soul is in it. I really wanted to bring forth something by a gay person for LGBTQ people, specifically. We have so many self-love anthems that we adopt from straight artists, and it just felt like it was finally time to join in the exciting new wave of queer artists and give my contribution to that space as well.

Give both a listen and report back.