Review: Perfume Genius - Too Bright
By Jordan Matthiass, Contributor
[Matador, 2014]
Rating: 8/10
Key Tracks: “Queen,” “Grid,” “All Along”
Mike Hadreas, better known as Perfume Genius, has been around the block; more than he’s wanted to be. Hadreas’ musical and personal identities, inextricably bound, rely heavily on a deep-rooted openness about the harrowing circumstances of his life as an openly gay man, circumstances with which he has dealt unceasingly in his art.
Containing little more than Hadreas’ voice and simple piano, Perfume Genius’ 2010 debut, Learning, and its equally-quiet 2012 companion, Put Your Back N 2 It, were incredibly intimate releases. Both played out like slowly-collapsing dioramas of pride and identity, as well as the pain that accompanies such. Perfume Genius created a support network for anyone who has ever lost family or friends in the wake of embracing selfhood.
With Too Bright, Hadreas is finished crying. He finally has the confidence to do what he wants, how he wants. The sound of the album echoes this with soaring, ripping synths and over-the-top vocals, confident to the last. Weird, unidentifiable backing samples and vocals push up against the main channel, remaining just out of earshot. Drums become a major player for the first time in the history of Perfume Genius. The general tone of Too Bright, upbeat and triumphant, makes it very clear that this album is the anti-Learning.
Opening with “I Decline,” a quiet throwback to earlier days, the record ostensibly presents itself as another ballad-centric cryfest. But before the intro dies away, Hadreas gives a hint of what’s to come: For perhaps the first time in his body of work, he sings with true assertiveness.
The curtain closes on the prologue; but immediately opens to reveal a garish, brightly-lit set, Perfume Genius standing front and center. As keys buzz overhead on “Queen,” Hadreas demands haughtily of the listener, “Don’t you know your queen?” Well, don’t you? Where 2010 Hadreas would have shied away from even going outside, now “No family is safe / When I sashay.” No more running, only ostentatious strutting. (And the occasional sample of a tiger roaring, which is so badass and self-assured it’s not even funny.)
“My Body” strips away Too Bright’s lip gloss shimmer and substitutes blood. Malevolent forces at work behind the creepy bassline and lo-fi keys ramp up to a buzzing, gnashing midpoint. “My Body” and the similarly dark and grimy “I’m a Mother,” which features some honestly scary lyrical delivery, are as close as Perfume Genius comes to a Xiu Xiu tribute.
In “Grid,” one finds a sister song to “Queen.” Loud, mirthful instrumentation outlines a dance-ready undercurrent of sine waves and simple drums, the likes of which could only fit on the beautifully garish pride parade of Too Bright.
Some great-but-not-perfect songs are found in “Longpig” and the title track, but album closer “All Along” is easily a high point. Wistful but not depressing, Hadreas’ performance shines brightly, both raw and refined, as he calmly sings the distillation of his new modus operandi: “I don’t need your love / I don’t need you to understand / I need you to listen.”
Too Bright is an album of context. Tracks are connected by lyrical and musical leitmotifs, while the album itself is intrinsically connected to the triumph of real-life Perfume Genius, Mark Hadreas, over his traumatic past. In thid context, it’s a perfect piece of poetic justice and role reversal. Taken outside of that space, it’s still a damn good record of catchy exuberance layered over wonderfully-gawky synth pop.
