Set My Heart On Fire Immediately - Perfume Genius: Review
Perfume Genius
is the project of Mike Hadreas an American singer-songwriter who first emerged at the beginning of last decade writing intimate piano ballads. His music has become more grand over the years culminating in his most popular and acclaimed release No Shape in 2017 which featured detailed and fully orchestrated instrumental arrangements from production wizard Blake Mills. Set My Heart On Fire is once again produced by Blake Mills and doesn't feature the tracks Eye In The Wall and Pop Song that Mike released last year.
Review By Lavender:
It's no secret I have a ton of admiration for Perfume Genius and it started early in my reviewing career when Mike released his 4th album under the name No Shape and I gave it the 2nd official 10/10 score of my reviewing career. To this day I adore the record for its ability to satisfy with both lush extravagantly arranged songs and the most stripped back, dark and intimate tracks. But this didn't come out of nowhere as Perfume Genius had been slowly working his way to that point for years releasing a trio of also excellent albums up to that point all of which I recommend. Having loved all of his records up to this point and coming off of one of my favorite albums of the entire decade there was no reason to expect anything other than excellence from him, and he delivered.
Despite the fact that one of my favorite singles of 2019 Eye In The Wall didn't make it onto this record the two singles that did ultimately land here we're enjoyable. Describe didn't blow me away at first but I like the song a lot more in the context of the record. The first half of the song has blistering grunge guitars and an intimate vocal performance that certainly makes for a unique pairing. The track spends its last two minutes or so as a distant pulsating ambient passage that I honestly find just as engaging and the bold move of including it on the song is a move I've come to appreciate. The track that stopped the indie music world in its tracks was On The Floor a slick infectious piece of 80's pop revivalism that I've listened to more times than I can count over the past month or so. Mike manages to make this sound infectious and new by refusing to cake the track in nostalgia and instead writing a true Perfume Genius tune and then applying the slick exterior that makes the song son instantly catchy that I can't look away from it.
Even beyond the great start the album was off to with the singles there are plenty more highlights to be found starting with the opener Whole Life. It's an incredibly provocative opening song and opening line as Mike muses on half of his life being gone. But the track brings back the exact same lyrics after a brilliant instrumental switch that totally re-contextualizes their meaning. The song is a dreamy and poetic opener with a beautiful opener that I just adore. Jason is a great song that doesn't make any point to hide the sensuality that clearly inspired the track. Mike's pretty falsetto is beautiful hanging over the instrumental that is a bit more stripped back then some of the others here but still has a decisively light tone. The lyrics seem to imply a different nature and tone than the songs sonic approach and the dichotomy is once again really interesting.
Moonbend is one of the longest and most stripped back songs here but I don't ever find it patience testing. The spacious instrumental makes every word of Mike's delivery float out into beautiful space paired with string arrangement that are simple enough to lull you into blissful submission. Coming from somebody who loved the darker tracks on No Shape this is a compelling return to that style even if the song never gets quite as dark as its predecessor. Just A Touch is another slower track with some haunting falsetto that I think is really compelling. The track may be just a touch underwitten or just taking a lot of its runtime to develop. Nonetheless the song is intimate, ethereal and rewarding by the time it concludes. Nothing At All is a really unique track that pairs two different sides of Perfume Genius together perfectly. The song pairs a dense bass heavy instrumental with Mike's much brighter soaring vocal harmonies. The song also has a pretty compelling bridge and chorus that I enjoy quite a lot and while the darker pulsating instrumental actually work really well and helps it stand out in an already beautiful discography.
The album ends off on a super high note as well starting with Some Dream The song comes out of absolutely nowhere to be fantastic as it opens with an intimate whispered vocal passage before exploding into a loud and dramatic almost cinematic piece with crashing percussion and jamming guitars that makes for a killer deep cut. The closing track Borrowed Light is a very stripped back closer that is also quite beautiful. Even though there doesn't seem to be much finality to it as a closing moment every single element of the song goes together in a very pretty and compelling way.
Without You is a beautiful and touching indie pop ballad with some light groovy percussion and a pretty key arrangement. There are definitely points on the record where Mike is absolutely killing it vocally, but the understated vocals on the verses definitely need a little bit more presence. Your Body Changes Everything isn't my favorite song on the record but I do think the instrumental is really cool with its short percussive bursts and pretty strings. The song seems like it isn't as complete as some of the other songs here and particularly in the second half it starts to wander. One More Try is one of the more forgettable tracks on the record it certainly isn't bad just simpler and more easy going than the songs placed around it.
The only song I actively didn't enjoy on the record was Leave and it isn't because of a bad idea at the core of the song. The piano instrumental is beautiful but so fragile but Mike's vocals have a heavy bass accompaniment that makes it hard to understand what he is saying. The part of the track that makes it really difficult is that the bass comes crashing into the mix and distorts everything every time he sings which makes the track a little bit of a mess. Despite the good ideas at its core this is one of the only songs that I think kind of shoots itself in the foot with mixing choices.
Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson: Super simple cover and stands alone as a good image. It looks like it was taken on film and if it was that ups the quality a ton. The colors are well contrasted for a black and white image. I think that this cover could've utilized some type, but it's not a problem that it's so empty. 6/10
For more great indie check out my review of Fiona Apple's Fetch The Bolt Cutters here
