Perfume Genius

On occasion I'll come by an album that completely destroys me.

Upon realization I have 67.99GB of music in my iTunes {what?! gross.}, I've been pushing up my sleeves and giving the ol' heave ho to scores of mp3s I never want to hear again for the rest of my life. I'm not talking tracks I'd be a little embarrassed to come up on shuffle during a shared road trip. You just have to embrace "Mortal Kombat" popping up before working your air ninja blades. I mean my enjoyment of four Girl Talk albums is simply long past the expiration date.

Besides the point and get back on topic, would you? Sheezus.

In my "benefit of the doubt" modicum, I can't throw out anything I haven't given at least one listen. So when I came to Perfume Genius, I judged a book by it's cover and assumed "synthy, Animal Collective-wannabe, Garage Band application." wrong, Wrong, WRONG.

After years of self-destruction and persecution by the crawling, hushed demons that haunt the sorrowful few, Mike Hadreas took shelter in his mother's house in Washington state. The taking up of a hermetic life stirred long-suppressed creativity, and Hadreas started penning lyrics to lay open dark stories of addiction, suicide and abuse. Set against lo-fi, simple piano at times so quiet you can hear the whoosh of recording pick-up, Hadreas' vocals range from harsh whispers to tremulous demands. Rather than cheap and shallow, the results are lush, warm melodies cradling his words to your ears and making you pay attention. Forcing you to look.
look out, look out / there are murders about

Released on Matador Records in 2010, “the songs on the album are the ones I think are the most real. And they are about everybody, you know? Even though some of them are directly from my experience - I always had everybody in mind.” - mike hadreas

Perfume Genius // Learning
Perfume Genius // No Problem