a r t i s t :: Perfume Genius
t i t l e :: Too Bright
l a b e l :: Matador
g e n r e :: Indie
e n c o d e r :: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V
s i z e :: 168.2MB
tracklist
releasenotes
The first line on Perfume Genius' third album, Too Bright, is a basic
observation, one we've heard a million times in songs: "I can see for miles
Mike Hadreas, the Seattle songwriter behind the project, sings it over a spare
piano, something that won't surprise people familiar with his music. The
sentiment, though, is a bit unexpected: Hadreas has made a habit of writing
powerful, intimate, and sometimes introverted songs that look closely at his
inner life, warts and all, and at the inner lives of the people around him
These words find him peering outward
The rest of the lyric finds Hadreas acknowledging the clich, and averting his
eyes: "I can see for miles/ The same old line/ No thanks/ I decline." What he
sees is an "Angel just above the grid/ Open, smiling, reaching," but he
rejects it. Later he uses the line again, on the raucous "Grid", with the same
decision to look away. At that point, though, "There is no angel/ Above the
grid." It's been replaced by "A diamond/ Swallowed and shit/ Then swallowed
again." He adds: "At least we know where it's been
All of this is important to consider because Too Bright is, by far, Hadreas
most extroverted album to date, a record about shattering illusions, defiantly
looking away when you feel like it, and boldly staring back at those who hate
you. It's also about personalizing your experience, and rejecting the clichs
placed on it by outsiders. As Hadreas has explained, "A lot of these songs are
me trying to claim some power in situations that would typically depress or
alienate or victimize me...I've seen faces of blank terror when I walk by
Sometimes from seemingly strong, macho dudessomehow my presence confuses and
ultimately scares them. There is a strange power to it that I've only recently
begun to understand and embrace
Too Bright follows 2012's excellent Put Your Back N 2 It, a quiet record that
offered variations on a central sound; sonically, Hadreas pushes things much
further here. He recorded Too Bright with previous collaborator Ali Chant and
Portishead's Adrian Utley, who also played bass and synth. Additionally, PJ
Harvey collaborator John Parish plays drums on a number of tracks that
fittingly, are reminiscent of fuzzed-out Harvey songs. There are still
elemental, stripped-down moments, but the sound is generally denser and
weirder. For the first time in Hadreas' career, he's giving equal time to the
textures as he is with his words. That said, his vocals are more muscular
too, more clear and naked-sounding. His voice takes on a shape-shifting
quality on Too Bright, sometimes warping into odd, ambient shapes; on the
finger-snapping "Fool", his powerful falsetto sounds like it could fill a
cathedral and then crack it in half
Queen" features heavy, fuzzed bass along with synthesized vocal choirs and
rhythmic oomph backing the great, cocky line, "No family is safe, when I
sashay." The frenetic, fucked-up "Grid", with immense banshee howls, horns
and repetitious, burly bass is reminiscent of Swans the video, on the other
hand, resembles Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" as done by David
Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona). On "I'm a Mother", Hadreas performs muffled
creepy falsetto that sounds like Antony whispering beneath a pillow. The title
track is a ballad with piano and Hadreas' crystalline voice, mixing in chiming
clarinet, synth washes, and escalating ghost choirs; "Longpig" possesses a
booming '80s synth line, ricocheting handclaps, and violent burts and blooms
with lines about burying meat for mama. As on Put Your Back, there's a
sock-hop quality to many of these songs, especially the closer "All Along
but the structure is toyed with and flayed, shifting on a dime
The approach to writing lyrics here is more elliptical and mysterious, too
There isn't the same kind of fleshed-out narrative storytelling found on
previous highlights "Mr. Peterson" or "Dark Parts". These tracks often zero in
on overall textures, but this doesn't mean the lyrics aren't nakedly intimate
I wear my body like a rotted peach/ You can have it if you handle the stink
he sings on "My Body". On "Queen", he tosses out and reinscribes gay
stereotypes: "Don't you know your Queen?/ Ripped, heaving/ Flowers bloom at my
feet/ Don't you know your Queen?/ Cracked, peeling/ Riddled with disease
There are brilliant insights and images that reveal themselves over multiple
listens. On "Fool", he makes a dress, lays it out on "the couch you bought
then bleeds out on that couch in one version and dances in another. He finds
power in being able to hold the hand of the man he loves, no longer needing to
keep secrets: "I carry their names, the secret shapes/ An aching braid around
my heart/ Traced in the park, an outline I chalk." And, as he sings on the
closing track, "All Along", "I don't need your love/ I don't need you to
understand/ I need you to listen
He's also shifted his look to match his new sound. In the past, Hadreas donned
cozy sweaters and black hoodies; on the golden cover of Too Bright he looks
buffed and polished, and in recent videos he's wearing smart suits and
designer clothes with colorful splashes of makeup. He's always had a knack for
the quietly devastating; there was his basic, simply shot, romantic, and
playful video for Put Your Back's "Hood", with the beefy gay porn star Arpad
Miklos who committed suicide a year after the clip), and Hadreas and his
mother climbing into a tree at the end of "Dark Parts", a song in part about
her being molested by her grandfather. Here, he finds a way to maintain that
personal feel while strutting down a board room table in high heels
Hadreas' sexuality is obviously a huge part of his work, but he's above all a
humanone who's spoken about battling addiction and sickness and sadness, and
one who possesses the ability to write about it in a way that feels universal
A huge part of what makes the work so strong is the generous human spirit that
bleeds into it, and Too Bright is the best example to date of the lengths he
goes to confront his fears and demons. These songs feel less like songs and
more like treasures, ones that fill you with power and wisdom, and as a
result, Too Bright seems capable of resonating with, comforting, and moving
anyone who's ever felt alienated, discriminated against, or "other-ized
regardless of sexual orientation
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