Why gender-affirming vocal care is “enormously important” for many trans people

[Jessica_Rose]

Why gender-affirming vocal care is "enormously important" for many trans people

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/05/why-gender-affirming-vocal-care-is-enormously-important-for-many-trans-people/

By Alex Bollinger  (11 May 2025)

On "Blurring Time," the title track to Bells Larsen's latest album, listeners hear the song sway between a high, female-sounding voice and a low, male-sounding voice. "It's not as simple as either or. I am both and I'm more, most of all I'm unsure," Larsen recites.

While the song may sound like it was recorded by two different artists, this isn't a duet.

It's entirely sung by Larsen, who uses his voice to tell the story of his sophomore album, released last month.

Larsen says the album serves as a farewell gift to his past self and a welcome home to his new life as a proud trans man. "I very much shaped my transition around this album," the 27-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter told Uncloseted Media.

Larsen meticulously planned the album around his gender transition. He recorded half the album before going on testosterone and the other half after, hence the different-sounding voices throughout the nine songs.

He says marrying his two realities was important for him as a storyteller. "A lot of trans narratives focus on either the before or the after, and not a lot of holding the two together," he says.

And a 2018 study in the Language and Linguistics Compass found that vocal cues are an important factor in categorizing someone's gender, "making the voice an enormously important aspect of gender presentation, particularly for those who are transitioning."