Watch: Adam Lambert Ready to Turn Up the Gayness with Sizzling New EP

Adam Lambert said in a recent interview that he's ready to introduce a whole new level of gayness in his work – and his upcoming EP "Afters," releasing this week, is some of what he's talking about, LGBTQ+ culture site "Them" reported.

"Consisting of six songs that seem ready-made for blasting at a circuit party, the EP represents Lambert's boldest work yet – mostly because the lyrics are raunchy as hell," the site enthused. "'Be a real good boy and lube it up,' he sings over a fist-pumping techno beat on the aptly named 'LUBE,' which is only a small taste of the hedonistic pleasures that the EP sought to capture."

Lambert famously fell short of winning "American Idol," after images of him kissing another man came to light during his time on the competition series in 2009. Later that year, Them recalled, he sparked controversy at American Music Awards when "he walked a man across the stage on a leash," after which he came in for some pressure from the industry to tone the queer vibe down.

But that was then.

"Why am I not doing that in my art?" the Queen touring singer asked Them in an interview, referencing his personal style in contrast to his professional persona and explaining his return to a super-queer vibe. "Why am I toning it down?"

"Afters," the article suggested, will be a course correction that reflects the reality of the times.

"I think maybe in the past I felt like I had to behave more," Lambert said in the interview with Them. "I think there was always, for years, a little dash of, like, PTSD from that experience on the AMAs when I did that sexualized performance and had this whole controversy from it."

"It's not that the controversy from the public really bothered me that much," the singer clarified; "it was more that, on the industry side, I felt a collective gasp."

Adding that he "felt like there were people who didn't really feel like a gay man was going to be able to succeed in commercial pop," Lambert said that he "spent a few years feeling like I had to regain trust from certain people and play by the rules a little bit more just to stay in the game."

Today, Lambert said, he feels "very free" to pursue his unique, and unquestionably queer, artistic vision.

"I feel very much in the driver's seat creatively," the "Whataya Want from Me" singer said. "I feel like I'm not having to compromise nearly as much as I used to have to do."

In the course of the interview, Lambert took note of what he called a "double standard" for what straight [and closeted] musicians were allowed to do, versus out recording artists.

"It was like, 'Well, wait, straight cis artists sing about all this stuff,'" Lambert pointed out. "The rulebook is completely different for them, and they get away with this, that, and the other thing."

"I was like, 'Why can't I?' Even at the time of that AMA controversy, it was the same thing: it was just such an obvious, obnoxious double standard."

"Given the way that the pop landscape has shifted to celebrate overt queerness, it would be understandable if the backlash he faced at the beginning of his career made him bitter about that progress," Them noted. "But the singer has nothing but pride and admiration for his fellow queer musicians, including – to name a few – Chappell Roan ('I mean, how exciting is her moment that she's in right now?' he gushes), Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Lil Nas X, the latter of whom has similarly been criticized for his own super gay awards show performances."

Lambert said that "so much has changed for queer people in music.... You see queer artists becoming mainstream successes. There's many of them now – many of us."

"That gives me a lot of inspiration," the "Never Close Our Eyes" singer went on to say. "I'm really proud of us as a community. I'm really proud of all the people who I see coming up, getting to do their thing, and finding success from the public."

Lambert suggested he is driven by more than the demands of his artistry. He's also ready to push back at the state of the world at the moment. The current demonization of queer people by right-wing political and social forces "might cause some people to react by taking a step back and being more cautious," the singer said, "But in a way, it almost lights a fire in me. It makes me feel like, 'Well, fuck you. I'm going to shine brighter. I'm going to be even gayer.'"

"Afters" drops July 19. We'll be here for it!