Exclusive: Watch the video for Paul Usher’s heartwarming new single ‘Paper Cups’
The Mancunian singer-songwriter continues to put queer love front and centre of his music.
By Will Stroude
After exploring the relationship between faith and sexuality on his profound debut single ‘Jesus Is a Preston Boy’ last year, Mancunian singer-songwriter Paul Usher continues to put queer love front and centre on newly-released follow-up ‘Paper Cups’.
The heartwarming ballad, which received its first radio airplay on The Graham Norton show on BBC Radio 2 over the weekend (15 June), is an unabashed celebration of the first buds queer love which was inspired by a first date in London.
“I remember sitting by the river in Camden; laughing, loving and learning all about this beautiful Portuguese boy I’d just met,” Paul recalls.
“The date was so simple but so natural. The evening unfolded effortlessly and I remember feeling so unashamed about simply holding his hand in public.
“I couldn’t help but write this celebratory boy-meets-boy song and capture the feeling of surrendering to a moment with a kindred spirit.”
The self-directed video for ‘Paper Cups’ sees that moment sweetly recreated on the banks of the Thames, and in a month that’s seen same-sex couples continue to be attacked on public transport in the capital, it’s a timely reminder that LGBTQ people’s most powerful act of defiance is simply expressing their love in the purest of terms.
Check out the video below: