Album Review: Perfume Genius - Glory

In embracing more softness and openness, Perfume Genius puts more change into his tunes and emotional depth in a fascinating way. ‘Glory’, as much as it can be rather sonically diluted at spots, is still able to explore tensions within grief and love through some stunning compositions and lyrical expressions.

It’s tough to get through processing pre-emptive grief, especially in a time when isolation has only let that process feel more scary and stressful to deal with, where such thoughts of the people we love passing away will come through more than usual. After dealing with his own personal conflicts within his body and sexuality for the past couple of albums, Mike Hadreas seems to be finally moving past those conflicts as he ends up embracing the comfort of love and joy more than ever, yet there’s a lingering fear that still wades in the shadows. One that only comes through with aging, but even more so with the constrained conditions of pandemic isolation, something that Perfume Genius has to fully delve deep in a way that changes him as an artist.

3 years after ‘Ugly Season’, Perfume Genius comes back to the fold with ‘Glory’. Like his past albums, this project retains the usual producers and melodic spark that made Perfume Genius’ records uniquely spectacular, but they are also very different in certain aspects. For one, this is his most collaborative in terms of working with other musicians, with said collaborative nature allowing him to become more shifting and deliberate in his writing process. Most importantly, this may as well be some of Perfume Genius’ softly organic tunes that he has ever made, one that fortunately does not sacrifice the dynamics that have always been a boon in his evocative performances and compositions. Eventually leading to some remarkable moments. The snarling folk rock across the guitars and drums of ‘It’s a Mirror’, the dynamic swells between Perfume Genius and Aldous Harding as the melodies simmer and explode on ‘No Front Teeth’, the tender piano ballad that’s accompanied supple drums and reverbed atmospherics on ‘Me & Angel’, the swiveling rays of plucked strings and gorgeous woodwind that emphasize Mike Hadreas’ intense vocals on ‘Full On’, and the thumping progressions that lead to those tense crescendos of ‘In a Row’.

But amidst those softer touches, there lies a tension that is being dabbled upon in the writing. Essentially, it’s about Perfume Genius trying to deal with pre-emptive grief that’s factored by the presence of aging and isolation, leading him eventually to write about the people he knows - closely knit or not - as a way to remember them while they’re still alive and well. This theme does go deeper, as he also delves into processing said grief with love that he’s more willing to share and provide, where even if there’s ache that surrounds these individuals, in expressing that love to the people he cared the most, it acts as a way of freeing himself away from that fright, and in turn, give comfort to those who are breaking apart. It does make sense why the album is titled ‘Glory’, as it deals with Perfume Genius’ pressure in dealing with anticipatory grief, but does know that to break away from his fear, he now has to reach out to the ones he cherished the most. Give a semblance of caring that benefits not just himself, but also the people that he has been surrounded with for the longest amount of time.

These tangible emotions are compelling enough that Perfume Genius is able to deliver, yet at the same time, there are parts of those ideas that are not exactly executed in a way that becomes more flimsy than it should be. Parts of this come through how the album is composed and paced, full of lilting atmosphere that eventually becomes languid or relies upon fleeting structures that sadly pull out impactful melodies, leading to the back half becoming really faint in comparison to the front half.

This approach does affect the writing as a result. Brief poetry does tend to come through on his past records, but they’re always accompanied by dynamics that really give more resonance to its details. Yet, with how amorphous the structure and tones tend to be on this album, it can create a distilled tone to Perfume Genius’ writing, even if they all do manage to connect with the message he is imparting. Given how much the back half wanders more than sticks into a composed structure, it sadly pulls back the gripping tension from the lyrics as a result.

While softness has been a big part of Perfume Genius’ catalogue, ‘Glory’ is the first time where said softness can also end up being its own adversary, especially in the compositions and the writing that should cut through more than it should. But even with that conflict out of the way, the album still manages to interject some remarkable tunes and emotional complexity that gives enough resonance and intrigue, allowing the exploration of pre-emptive grief and warm love to rip through, albeit in moments rather than as a whole. He might tumble quite a bit, but in reaching that glory for himself and others, Perfume Genius manages to muster the love that will always be a part of his life for a very long time.

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Favorite Tracks: ‘It’s a Mirror’, ‘No Front Teeth’ ft. Aldous Harding, ‘Me & Angel’, ‘Full On’, ‘In a Row’

Least Favorite Track: ‘Glory’