Photo by Luke Gilford
“I felt like I had woken some ancient beast which began to rattle and threaten to rise,” says Mike Hadreas, referring to his third record as Perfume Genius, Too Bright. “[It’s] an underlying rage that has slowly been growing since age 10 and has just begun to bubble up.”
That certainly seems to be the case on “Queen,” a lead single that struts its way across a shimmering backdrop of crystallized keys and caterwauling choruses, staring down the “faces of blank fear” Hadreas sees when he walks by.
“If these fucking people want to give me some power,” he explains, “if they see me as some sea witch with penis tentacles that are always prodding and poking and seeking to convert the Muggles, well, here she comes.”
Helping Hadreas bottle his boldest statement yet is Portishead multi-instrumentalist Adrian Utley, who recorded the effort, and recurring PJ Harvey collaborator John Parrish, who appears on several tracks. According to a press release, it all amounts to “a stunning about-face which brings to mind audacious career-shift albums like Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Scott Walker’s Tilt, records which walk the tightrope between pure songwriting and overt experimentation.”
Have a listen to “Queen” down below, right alongside tour dates and complete album details, and look out for the rest of the record through Matador on September 23rd…
Perfume Genius, Too Bright (Matador, September 23rd):
1. I Decline
2. Queen
3. Fool
4. No Good
5. My Body
6. Don’t Let Them In
7. Grid
8. Longpig
9. I’m a Mother
10. Too Bright
11. All Along
Perfume Genius tour dates:
8/1 Katowice, Poland – OFF Festival
8/2 London, UK – Visions Festival
8/27 Belgium, Brussels – Feeerieen
8/28 Cardigan, UK – Mas Mas
8/30 Salisbury, UK – End of the Road Festival
9/1 Glasgow, UK – Centre for Contemporary Arts
9/2 Manchester, UK – Band on the Wall
9/3 Ransgate, UK – Ramsgate Music Hall
9/7 Milan, Italy – MITO SettembreMusica
9/8 Rome, Italy – Circolo degli Artisti
9/9 Bologna, Italy – Locomotiv Club
9/26 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
9/27 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
9/29 Kansas City, MO – Riot Room
9/30 Mpls, MN – Triple Rock Social Club
10/1 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
10/2 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
10/4 Toronto, ON – Virgin Mobile Mod Club
10/6 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
10/7 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/8 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
10/9 Washington, DC – The Hamilton
10/10 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room
10/11 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
10/13 Dallas, TX – Three Links
10/14 Austin, TX – The Parish
10/16 Tuscon, AZ – Club Congress
10/17 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
10/19 Los Angeles, CA – Roxy Theatre
10/21 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
10/22 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
10/24 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
10/25 Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
11/11 Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
11/12 Zurich, Switzerland – Exil
11/13 Lausanne, Switzerland – Le Romandie
11/14 Leuven, Belgium – Depot
11/16 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
11/17 Berlin, Germany – Lido
11/18 Heidelberg, Germany – Pret-a-ecouter Festival
11/19 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet
11/21 Utrecht, Netherlands – Le Guess Who Festival
11/23 Edinburgh, UK – Caves
11/24 Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
11/25 Birmingham, UK – Oobleck
11/26 Brighton, UK – The Haunt
11/27 London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
