Perfume Genius is the project of singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas, whose previous albumsâ2010âs Learning, 2012âs Put Your Back N 2 It, and 2014âs Too Brightârevolve around themes of sexuality, addiction, chronic illness, abuse, and homophobia. He sings about being gay and the frustration of being punished for something he canât control, but greets pain with sardonic wit on songs like âQueenâ: âNo family is safe/When I sashay.â Others are more tender, like âDonât Let Them In,â 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 Badalamentiâs piano ballads to stringed chamber folk to TLC-inspired R&B grooves to volcanic pop anthems. Theyâre all united by Hadreasâ androgynous voiceâheâs always commanding the center, through explosive moments of catharsis and lighter-treading hymns.
No Shape isnât merely about his own transcendence; âJust Like Loveâ marvels at the pure joy of young queers who havenât yet encountered bigots, with instructions to âsmother them with velvet.â âSlip Awayâ is an epic tale of forbidden love and great escape thatâs fueled by Hadreasâ desire to eclipse this corporeal realm, since itâs often an inhospitable place to existâwith his love, in his body.
But the albumâs cinematic closing track, âAlanâ (an ode to his partner and musical collaborator, Alan Wyffels) finds peace back in reality. The âviolent dreamsâ he addresses on Too Bright are gone; instead, they âsleep through the night.â âYou need me/Rest easy,â Hadreas sings. âIâm here/How weird.â With this simple coda, itâs romantic, defiant, and magnificent, simply to be together in this world.