PERFUME GENIUS Sun 7/16 Revolution Hall
PERFUME GENIUS Sun 7/16 Revolution Hall Luke Gilford

Perfume Genius is the project of singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas, whose previous albums—2010’s Learning, 2012’s Put Your Back N 2 It, and 2014’s Too Bright—revolve around themes of sexuality, addiction, chronic illness, abuse, and homophobia. He sings about being gay and the frustration of being punished for something he can’t control, but greets pain with sardonic wit on songs like “Queen”: “No family is safe/When I sashay.” Others are more tender, like “Don’t Let Them In,” where he admits how exhausting it is to constantly repel barbs of hate.

With the May release of No Shape, Hadreas imagines his own transcendence in grand, sweeping protest music. This is reflected in fluid movements between genres, from glam rock to the magic of Angelo Badalamenti’s piano ballads to stringed chamber folk to TLC-inspired R&B grooves to volcanic pop anthems. They’re all united by Hadreas’ androgynous voice—he’s always commanding the center, through explosive moments of catharsis and lighter-treading hymns.

No Shape isn’t merely about his own transcendence; “Just Like Love” marvels at the pure joy of young queers who haven’t yet encountered bigots, with instructions to “smother them with velvet.” “Slip Away” is an epic tale of forbidden love and great escape that’s fueled by Hadreas’ desire to eclipse this corporeal realm, since it’s often an inhospitable place to exist—with his love, in his body.

But the album’s cinematic closing track, “Alan” (an ode to his partner and musical collaborator, Alan Wyffels) finds peace back in reality. The “violent dreams” he addresses on Too Bright are gone; instead, they “sleep through the night.” “You need me/Rest easy,” Hadreas sings. “I’m here/How weird.” With this simple coda, it’s romantic, defiant, and magnificent, simply to be together in this world.