Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, will release his new album, Too Bright, on September 23rd through Matador Records. In anticipation, the LP’s streaming in full at NPR.org.
The 11-track effort serves as the follow-up to Perfume Genius’ excellent 2012 album, Put Your Back N 2 It. For this LP, Hadreas enlisted the talents of Portishead’s Adrian Utley and PJ Harvey affiliate John Parish.
In an interview with Pitchfork, Hadreas noted the angrier undertones of the album, many of which address the issue of gay panic:
My boyfriend is always like, ‘Why are you still going on about this stuff? Things might not be perfect, but can we start getting on with everything else?’” he laughs. “I’m glad things are getting better, but I’m going to push and be pissed off until they’re perfect. That will probably never happen, but I feel some weird duty nonetheless. Even though I can get married in Seattle, I could go to another country and get the death penalty just for being myself—I’m not making music just for fiancés in Seattle.”
Hadreas also mentioned how he thinks the record’s moodier nature will resonate with more listeners:
“There’s not much hope in this album, which makes it easier for people to understand,” he said. “People don’t like a lot of stuff at once: They see a French movie and they think there’s too many emotions at once. I’ve had people tell me that I should just be sad and not joke around on Twitter, but they don’t understand that joking and being deeply sad are very close to each other. I’ll have a horrible memory that I find hysterical one day, and the next day I’ll cry about it.”
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Pre-orders for the album are ongoing. Below, watch the surreal video for “Queen”.
Too Bright Tracklist:
01. I Decline
02. Queen
03. Fool
04. No Good
05. My Body
06. Don’t Let Them In
07. Grid
08. Longpig
09. I’m a Mother
10. Too Bright
11. All Along