While Perfume Genius has been a prominent force in independent pop for over a decade, his latest album “Glory” explores a darker sonic texture with introspective writing.
Michael Hadreas, the artist behind Perfume Genius, explores the intricacies of vulnerable lyricism on his seventh studio album.
Named Best New Track by Pitchfork, the lead single, “It’s a Mirror,” is a testament to the queer nature of the singers’ music that serves as the opening credits for the album. What feels like a simple track with easy guitars and repetitive drum fills has rich personal lyrics riddled with metaphors that all reach the same tragic conclusion: love is a mirror.
Hadreas starts this album by singing the words, “What do you get from the stretching horizon / That you’d leave me spiraling with no one to hold?” Wasting no time, Hadreas unpacks the hopeless guilt attached to queer affection and its invisible presence. In the post-chorus, he sings, “It’s a diamond, my whole life is / Open just outside the door.” Clinging to the idea that hope lies right beyond where our minds deem feasible, Hadreas alters his perspective in lieu of the mirrored realities surrounding him.
The track “No Front Teeth” has the only feature on the album, joined by alternative artist Aldous Harding. An ethereal analysis of the loss of one’s youth told through the metaphor of losing one’s front teeth, Hadreas and Harding create a healing sonic atmosphere with the chorus: “Better days, nothing touch me / Light, it breaks on the wings of a dove / Better days, let them touch me / Let it take everything that I know.”
Since touring Australia together 10 years ago, Hadreas and Harding’s friendship has blossomed into something that can only be described by art. The ambient nature of the chorus brings a calming and hopeful aura to the words, alleviating the stress that coincides with the disposal of one’s adolescence. “No Front Teeth” is a reflection on the growing pains humans experience well into adulthood, fueled by ever-changing hearts with constant souls.
The love song “Me & Angel” is a ballad dedicated to Hadreas’ life partner, Alan Wyffels, who has been a consistent shoulder for the singer to lean on. With minimal instrumentation, this track takes you through the story of romantic love with only a human voice to lead the way.
The raw vocals on this track emulate infatuation as Hadreas sings, “There’s a halo that’ll always hold its shape / That’s the core I’m leaning on.” Hadreas does not identify his lover as a light at the end of the tunnel or a highway sign leading home, rather, he explicitly states he is something other-worldly, singing, “If he’s an angel? He’s an angel, he’s an angel.”
The seventh track, “Capezio” opens with a bass reminiscent of “You’re So Vain”
by Carly Simon and quickly unfolds into a gothic alternative ballad. The song centers around the character Jason, whom Hadreas created on his album “Set My Heart On Fire Immediately.” Jason is not merely a man whom the narrator finds himself irrevocably infatuated with, rather, he is the personification of the narrator’s ideal sexual endeavor.
Each verse starts with an iteration of the narrator in close proximity to Jason with nothing but lust separating them. The lyrics follow the story of a threesome where two of the individuals share intentions of using the third party for their pleasure. Hadreas sings, “Holding my breath on the other side of Jason / Until she tells me to stop / It only works when someone else between us.”
The second half of this track is a prolonged outro filled with an instrumental guitar that sonically describes the trials and tribulations of desire. A haunting depiction of the sometimes shameful reality of queer love, the outro allows the listener time to dissect where the shame stems from, but more importantly what it can blossom into.
The final song on the album serves as the title track, sharing the name “Glory.” The free-spirited nature of this track allows for the drones to rise and fall behind the repetition of sparse, elongated lyrics, accompanied by strings and guitars. Hadreas finds comfort in his existential lyricism, singing, “Loosened, roving stray / Guest of body / Now in quiet glory.” Acknowledging life is just a glint of time spent in a precious body, Hadreas requests life only be described with one word: glory.
While Perfume Genius’ latest album sets itself apart from the artist’s prior discography both sonically and lyrically, it displays his ability to be vulnerable yet conservative in his storytelling. Depicting the reality of queer love through a foggy lens, Hadreas artistically tells his and many others’ stories on “Glory.”
