Everything you bury becomes a seed. Some artists have buried so many emotions inside of themselves that eventually became a fertile ground for growth of their creativity. Another facet often buried inside an artist is potential. Everyone has potential. But not everyone is a genius.
American author Mike Handreas dropped his fourth full-length album under the pseudonym Perfume Genius. After only one listen, it can be concluded that the musician is bursting from self-confidence and that he has finally become fully aware of his mammoth potential. The potential means nothing If you don’t realize it, and Perfume Genius realized that he wants to realize it. And he is soooo young. I just hope he will stay away from the path of self-destruction.
In the past, he based his music on undemanding piano-vocal solutions. Now he is dealing with rich orchestrations and combination of assorted music influences, including soul, chamber pop, new wave, r’n’b and everything in between. The credits for production belong to Blake Mills, musical pundit who stands behind another great this year’s release by talented Laura Marling.
The album unfolds with Otherside, a characteristic piano melody. Here, it seems like we are at the familiar terrain until the sonic explosion in the middle strikes you like a surprising thunder. Controlled chaos continues in Slip Away where sensitivity of Hadreas’ vocal meet frenetic melody. It might be one of the best tracks on the album, so no wonder it was dropped as the first single. Romantic Just Like Love is a pure elegance tailored by a soft vocal and sophisticated string arrangements. Duet with Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) titled Sides resemble Falling from Twin Peaks, but only in few moments. Elements of folk are ubiquitous on Valley, while trip-hop a la Portishead radiates on Die 4 You. Even when influences are omnipresent, Perfume Genius skillfully converges them into authentic pop story.
In my humble opinion, No Shape surpassed its eulogized predecessor. What’s even more important is that it gives us a glimpse of what kind of music experimentation we can expect from this musician from Seattle in the near future.
