Take a Temperature Check with Baileigh Jane’s New Single “Who Are You?”

A demo of a song can stay untouched for months or even years, and many forget it exists and move on with their songwriting, but that’s not the case for New York-based artist Baileigh Jane. On their newest single, “Who Are You,” the singer-songwriter has a conversation with their past self using layered harmonies and vocal performances with their pre- and post-transition voice. The single sat in Baileigh’s personal archive for six years before being released on digital streaming.

Written in 2020, “Who Are You” began as an inner dialogue about identity, eventually becoming a rhetorical question that would shape the following years of Baileigh’s creative and personal life. They describe how the need to write the song came from a deep need for self-reflection and understanding when it’s best to draw boundaries with others and determine who deserves your trust. 

“I needed this song because it was a very outward [question of:] ‘Who are you and can I trust you?...When the lights go out, do you love me still? Are you still on my team when I’m not around?’”

Through these questions, the listener begins to understand the heart of the song. To find some angle of resolution, Baileigh suggests you must practice a continuous re-evaluation of self and it will circulate through your subconscious as you discover new facets of your identity.

“‘Who Are You’ is like a temperature check for yourself…  It’s a question with an answer that probably is going to change throughout life.”

When the song was first written, Baileigh had not yet come out as trans and identified as a cis lesbian. Having been forced out of the closet at 15 by one of their parents, there were relationship strains that manifested in what would become the lyrics of this song.

“You know, I grew up in a place that was very competitive for the love in the household. So, I think that ‘Who Are You’ recounts those trust issues,” explains Baileigh about the underlying unease with the concept of trust that lingers through the single.

That is why Baileigh kept the final edition with its original lyrics. The musical growth of the song from those six years on the shelf came through on its production. Self-produced by Baileigh, the song saw its biggest period of reworking when they began taking testosterone back in March of 2025.

With their voice undergoing a process of reconstruction, the artist found themselves unable to sing, which meant they couldn’t record vocals. In the months when they were vocally limited, the ever-productive musician saw it as the perfect opportunity to return to the production of “Who Are You” and reimagine the sound of the song so it could reflect their trans identity.

“Being out with my trans identity, I relistened to that song… and it’s like a dream that you come back to years later, you're like, wait a second. I think this was the other meaning of that dream,” they share, describing it as a sort of lightbulb moment. “That’s what gave me this whole second layer of meaning, this second wave of inspiration to rework that demo with my perspective now.”

Though the song crafts a slower, melancholic sound, the pre-testosterone lead vocals are echoed by the singer’s present, deeper tone – adding a nuance of nostalgia with a provoking reawakening of the self. Before the song fades into a delicate arrangement of strings, Baileigh closes by suggesting: “Tell everyone / So I know you’re real.” 

A year before moving to New York City, back in Florida, they lived in a house with trans roommates. Though that year was marked by many life-changing transitions, such as cutting off communication with family members and managing a long-distance relationship, they admit that being trans was not something they knew at that moment.

Growing up in the Deep South, or what Baileigh calls the “Bible Belt,” amongst the LGBTQIA+ community there often exists an unspoken agreement to limit visible queerness as a way of safeguarding the community’s survival. Functioning as a “don’t ask, don’t tell politeness,” the Florida-native reflects that though you can be exposed to queerness in the South, you aren’t always granted permission to express it.

Being transgender is the very resistance of gender conformity. Existing as a trans man, woman or gender non-conforming person means blurring the lines of the gender binary and challenging cisgender comfortability, which is an incredibly daunting task if you never asked for that responsibility. In conservative communities, that very suppression that is expected or enforced onto trans people takes so much visibility away from the queer community, which in turn takes away so many lives.

The purpose of “Who Are You” is to create a conversation between acceptance and affirmation, one that Baileigh ultimately embraced after moving to New York.

“Seeing more queer people that are unbothered gave me the realization that, for me, being afraid of coming out as trans was honestly selfish, given how lucky I am as a white trans person, who is financially stable and self-employed. [It was me recognizing] all these privileges I had that I didn't want to take for granted. Yes, it's scary being trans… I just want everyone who's gender nonconforming or trans or queer [to know] that the fear of coming out and being accepted is sometimes bigger in our heads. It's like the thing we're putting off. Because once you come out and you start aligning yourself with who you really are, you get to have the joy on the other side of that, of being with all the people who are okay with you accepting yourself.”

During their free time, Baileigh organizes and hosts Queer Music Showcases and a cannabis social club, Dank Dykes. Let this serve as a reminder that you can always create queer spaces, or seek out people who are just as passionate about keeping queer spaces alive.

“It’s so validating working with all these other queer and trans people who play for me, book through me, or produce with me. It's just so nice that there's that underlying connection of fighting the same fight, having similar vulnerabilities or similar trials of life that we've gone through. It's been very healing, honestly, and provides so much. It just became a cherry on top – a value exchange.”

For those listening to “Who Are You” and asking themselves a bigger question of “Can fans expect new music soon?” the answer is yes. With five new songs scheduled for release in 2026, the latest single is only the beginning of a blazing momentum for Baileigh Jane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFKtSMiyAqk