There’s a particular kind of freedom that comes from being a stranger — no history, no reputation, nobody keeping score. That’s the space Robert Baxter is writing from on ‘NAMELESS’, the new single from the Naarm/Melbourne pop artist, released today alongside the announcement of their forthcoming EP PARTYANIMAL, out September 18. Listen to ‘NAMELESS’ HERE and pre-save the PARTYANIMAL EP HERE.

Baxter has built a career on refusing to sit still. Raised on Yorta Yorta Country before relocating to a city where they now sell out their own headline shows, the non-binary Taiwanese/Australian artist treats vulnerability, desire, and humour as the same material, worked and reworked until the line between sincerity and irony disappears. PARTYANIMAL is the fullest expression of that instinct yet — a record that tracks a night out in real time, from the first drink to the drive home at sunrise. “It’s the unapologetic gay, sexy, sweaty side, and then the vulnerable how I feel on the come down too,” Baxter says. “It’s the animalistic play between needs and desires — the production is all ferocious and headbanging, but the lyrics contain another side to the animal if you listen.”

That tension is sharpest on ‘NAMELESS’, written during a trip to London and built around the specific high of being unrecognisable. Back home, Baxter says, the city’s gay scene runs on gossip — who’s slept with whom, worn like a badge. “Everyone knows everyone, and sometimes people will talk about who they’ve been with as achievements,” they explain. “I don’t enjoy that narrative or want to be used that way.” Abroad, stripped of context, that pressure disappears and ‘NAMELESS’ turns the resulting anonymity into something closer to liberation than loneliness.

The single joins three earlier PARTYANIMAL cuts, ‘ICY (TAKE IT OFF)‘, ‘MUSIC 2 MY EARS‘, and ‘KITTY CAT‘, continuing a run that’s carried Baxter well beyond Melbourne’s club circuit since their 2024 and 2025 EPs, you wouldn’t expect cupid to cry and STARGIRL. triple j, 10 Magazine, F Word Magazine, and Kaltblut have all taken notice, alongside a string of Spotify New Music Friday placements across the UK, US, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand. But PARTYANIMAL feels less like a continuation than a full step forward — Baxter fully inhabiting the popstar instincts they’ve spent two EPs edging toward. “I think my audience has gotten to know me more and I can trust they will understand when I’m being ironic“, they say. “I’ve developed a tough shell when it comes to receiving hate for being queer, or people being confused about my gender. But no one hates on the music, because how could they?”

Robert Baxter has recently been announced as the support act across all dates of Ashnikko’s AU/NZ tour this September, and to cap off 2026, they’ll be playing Beyond The Valley in VIC, and Wildlands Festival in both Brisbane and Perth.