“I feel there’s something very political about owning my queer happiness, cutting it out and saying: we have a right to be happy. I want to make gay music and create space for queer stories.” — Planningtorock Planningtorock – aka. singer-songwriter, DJ, producer, composer and director Jam Rahuoja Rostron – today announces their “Gay Dreams Do Come True” EP, due for release 29 October 2021 via Human Level.

Comprised of three celebratory, joyful, sweet house tracks, Gay Dreams Do Come True is Planningtorock’s aural mission to own their queer happiness, and to share that joy with anyone who wants to listen. The EP’s euphoric title track, destined to be a new Pride anthem, was premiered on 6Music’s Mary Anne Hobbs show this morning, and is available to listen to HERE.

About the track, Planningtorock says, “This song is a dedication to my love, my wife Riinu and too the Black trans women who fought for the rights we have today as queer, gay, non binary lesbians.” For the uninitiated: Planningtorock has been a disruptive voice in dance music for the last fifteen years. Initially signing with DFA via James Murphy himself, in addition to subsequently opening for LCD Soundsystem in America, Planningtorock has released four acclaimed studio albums thus far, using the personal as political on each record while playing with gender in their costumes and photos for each release. These albums, along with early collaborations with subversive innovators like The Knife and Peaches, established Planningtorock as a recognised force in politicised dance music that moulds sound into new shapes, and explores ideas around gender, queerness, sexuality, and desire.

Planningtorock has also become a highly sought-after DJ and remixer, bringing new shades of light with their remixes of songs by Christine and The Queens, Robyn, Romy of The xx, and many more. Following an opening slot as a DJ for Robyn in 2019, the multitalented producer teamed up with Chanel’s sound director Michel Gaubert in 2020. Their Planningtochanel EP soundtracked the Parisian label’s Autumn/Winter 2020 show, and was the first work created in Jam’s new home city of Tallinn, Estonia. It’s also here that Planningtorock created their transformative new EP, Gay Dreams Do Come True. Jam uprooted to the Estonian capital – a beautiful, gentle-paced city on the Baltic coast – after spending two decades in Berlin. Already feeling restless and ready for a change, everything fell into place when the musician met their partner, Riinu, through mutual friends in Helsinki; soon, Jam relocated to Riinu’s home city full-time. Last September the couple married. LGBTQ+ marriage isn’t legal in Estonia, so the ceremony took place at the city’s British Embassy – in theory, the country recognises marriages which took place abroad. In reality, they have been struggling to get their partnership acknowledged in their home country while under a right-wing coalition government. With the prime minister now ousted over an alleged corruption scandal, Estonia is going through a time of great political upheaval. Distant hope of a more progressive government is on the horizon – and Gay Dreams Do Come True represents Planningtorock’s own personal exploration of queer love.

A loud, proud, unabashed celebration, Planningtorock’s new EP Gay Dreams Do Come True stands in opposition to the tragic queer narratives which can sometimes dominate the mainstream. Indeed, Jam set out to make a record which basks in the all-consuming joy of queer love instead, and the sense of belonging, intimacy, and safety that comes with it.

Planningtorock will be playing two very special shows this fall to celebrate the EP’s release. “Planningtorock Presents Gay Dreams Do Come True” is a live show and a party all in one to celebrate music and queer stories. Following sold-out live shows at Berlin’s Berghain and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall for 2018’s Powerhouse LP, Planningtorock will return to the Scala in London to perform their new EP plus classic PTR songs interwoven with them DJ’ing their favourite tracks and influences. Invited guests and artist friends will join Planningtorock on stage to perform.

Planningtorock’s “Gay Dreams Do Come True” EP is due for release 29 October via Human Level.