In a whirl of twinkling keys and cerebral folk musing, Perfume Genius has emerged from his Ugly Season with grace. While 2022 saw Mike Hadreas fully losing himself in the depths of paranoia, waxing tormented lyrical over erratic disco pulses and gorgeous industrial distortion, Glory strips things back to basics. By shelving the experimental darkness in favour of organic sounds and tactile textures, Mike Hadreas’ confessionals feel more vulnerable than ever.
Glory basks in its own world of pensive beauty. Opener ‘It’s A Mirror’ perfectly sets the tone for the record; while the track dives into themes of “terror”, Hadreas seals his fear with a kiss, vocals soaring over acoustic, twanging riffs. This soft approach is constant, with ‘Clean Heart’s paranoid confession delivered with Hadreas’ signature brand of chamber pop, admitting “I used to hide out for days” with a side of sparkling xylophone and ethereal chorals.
While the record tends to linger in Hadreas’ signature realm of light, ethereal soundscaping, Glory’s anxious reflections are packaged in a slew of different ways. ‘No Front Teeth’ leans into softer country-like soundscapes, Aldous Harding’s angelic voice delicate enough to crumble in the palm of your hand as the track worries about losing “everything that [you] love”. ‘In A Row’ is one of the more experimental lyrical feats on the record, Hadreas employing a starburst of synths as he shares how he deals with trauma and pain: “think of all the poems I’ll get out,” he croons, choral harmonies rising euphorically behind him.
While Hadreas is laying himself bare, letting the “swarming locusts” of listeners feast on his personal history and experience, he’s able to grow and move on by transforming his pain and life into art. This approach also allows him to amplify the magic of more favourable scenarios, ‘Me & Angel’s soft, piano-led love letter to his husband absolutely timeless, their relationship captured with heart-wrenching tenderness.
Of course, there’s a few playful numbers thrown in amidst the mature, heart-on-sleeve tracks. Distortion is kept to an absolute minimum, only rearing its head on Hadreas’ less vulnerable tracks. ‘Hanging Out’ in particular blurs the lines between love and hate, depicting a muddy fight as curiously lustful with its blissed-out whirring and thrumming riffs.
‘Capezio’ is another distorted cut, the fluttering, weightless track seemingly recounting a threesome in a gently psychedelic haze. The track namedrops Jason, a character who got his own dedicated track on 2020’s Set My Heart On Fire Immediately that sonically captured the clumsy, shaking hands of your first queer experience and internalised queer guilt. ‘Capezio’ adds another layer to the guilt, a sense that Jason only allows himself to indulge in gay relations if a woman is also present – but it certainly adopts a more flirty flow.
While Glory sees Hadreas confining his art to a softer palette, this record is confident in its mature reflections. It offers up less eerie distortion and glimmers of club-worthy synthetics, but that doesn’t mean it feels any less refined. It’s Hadreas reborn, shrugging off the distortion to get a clearer idea of the man he has grown to become over the last 15 years.
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