Too Bright

Perfume Genius

This album was where I really started to listen to Mike Hadreas, otherwise known as Perfume Genius. Prior to Too Bright, Hadreas' bedroom production and incredibly fragile voice didn't really appeal to me despite diving into really personal, gut-wrenching topics. The first time I heard the burning keys, the new-found swagger in Hadreas' voice, and that high-pitched whistle tone on lead single Queen, I immediately turned a new leaf. When Hadreas sings "no family is safe when I sashay" so confidently right before the song expands into this pop epic, I found the moment to be very powerful. From the little material I heard from him prior, I got the sense that the lyrics were framed in a great deal of personal shame, but on this track, Hadreas is feeding off the 'gay panic' instead of internalizing it. I wanted to hear more. The following track on the record, Fool, is an elegant piece of pop R&B. It suddenly breaks in the middle to go into this M83 sized, overwhelming rush of synths and vocals. It was another track I was instantly impressed with upon first listen. The more intimate piano ballads also make a return on this record and there are a few tracks among them that really stand out to me. The way Hadreas plays with pacing and dynamics on songs like I Decline, Don't Let Them In, and the title track really makes these songs feel like an emotional performance rather than a dry recital.

This record also sees Hadreas taking some risks and crafting some of his weirdest experiments yet. Grid, which I just recently learned upon researching for this journal, was the name prior to AIDS (gay-related immune deficiency) due to its initial prevalence in the gay community. The lyrics allude to that truly awful time-period with lines like "there is no angel above the grid," which illustrates the largely held belief that homosexuality is a sin, AIDS is the punishment, and that we are all destined for hell. Hadreas sounds playful while the instrumentation is quite confrontational, resulting in this truly unsettling dichotomy. There's these piercing, high-pitched synth wails and some insane tribal chants towards the end which all further enhance the psychotic nature of this tune. I'm a Mother seems even more odd in it's choice of presentation. It features a deep, rumbling, bass synth pad and Hadreas' vocals are pitched down to match. His choked performance gets lost in all these effects causing much of his words to become indecipherable. Since everything is lost in translation, I can't help but feel a sense of great pain as I'm listening to it. My least favourite experiment has to be My Body. Something about it feels kinda forced and unnatural about it which is not a feeling I get when listening to Grid, despite them having a similar vibe. The distorted synths and Hadreas' sour vocals really rubbed me the wrong way upon first listen and after many years I still haven't warmed up to it.

With this record, not only did I start paying attention to Mike Hadreas' music, but I can legitimately say I've become a fan. The upgrade in the production made many of these songs exciting and engaging, but above anything else, Hadreas' voice and performances have evolved greatly. He now exhibits a great deal of confidence, swagger, and power in his vocal delivery. The lyrics are still personal and well written, but now the sound has caught up making the music feel so much more emotionally potent.