Put Your Back N 2 It
Perfume Genius is Mike Hadreas, a Seattle songwriter whose jarring 2010 debut album, Learning, was called “an album of rare, redemptive beauty…one of the most uniquely endearing and quietly forceful debut albums of recent years” by Drowned In Sound, and established him as one of the most singular songwriters today. The bulk of Learning sprung from a time of self-imposed isolation in his mother’s suburban home following a period of trauma and self-destruction. The album was actually mastered from second-generation MP3s, as Hadreas had lost the original recordings, and this distant, abraded sound reinforced its harrowing tales and haunting melodies. “No secret/No matter how nasty/Can poison your voice/Or keep you from joy.” – Perfume Genius, “Normal Song” Though Learning’s voyeuristic window into Hadreas’s experiences resonated intensely with many people, his new album Put Your Back N 2 It is much more universal, addressing intimacy, power, family, secrecy, and hope not just through his impressionistic lyrics, but the music itself, which is as lush as Learning was stark. It’s a gorgeous soundtrack for anyone trying to keep it together in everyday life, and about moving forward. “I don’t want it to seem like I’ve been through more than other people,” Hadreas says. “Everyone has stuff. Staying healthy can be more depressing and confusing than being fucked up. But I want to make music that’s honest and hopeful.” The hypnotic songs on Put Your Back N 2 It are tender and moving, but they are also surreal and grand, recalling at times the universality of lullabies and hymns, faraway folk songs, the dramatic arc of a film score, and the almost spiritual quality suggests a kind of opiated gospel. He cites as a primary influence not one of the indie icons to which he’s sometimes compared (Cat Power, Bon Iver, Thom Yorke), but The Innocence Mission (“not their sound, but their timelessness”).
Mike Hadreas' powerful second album addresses personal traumas like physical abuse, drug addiction, and desperation, but, unlike his 2010 debut Learning, some light shines through the darkness.
Perfume Genius’ debut, Learning, was one of the more captivating albums of 2010, presenting a collection of fragile ballads that creator Mike Hadreas seemed palpably reluctant to share. Since then, Learning’s success has coaxed him out of his suburban isolation and onto tours with the likes of Beirut, and a full…
The online trailer for Perfume Genius' Put Your Back N 2 It, which featured Mike Hadreas being cradled like a baby in the arms of gay porn star Arpad Miklos, presented the perfect imagery for the growth in Hadreas' music since his debut, Learning.
The title of Perfume Genius' second album may suggest exertion, and the first sound you hear when you listen to it is a deep, labored breath.
Back in 2010, the Perfume Genius debut ‘Learning’ was a beautiful eulogy to lost innocence, recorded by Mike Hadreas during his darkest moments.
The fragrant Mike Hadreas offers more odes to tainted love and split ends, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
Perfume Genius 'Put Your Back N 2 It' album review on Northern Transmissions.
This second album from Michael Hadreas has intriguing touches that reveal themselves on repeated listens, writes <strong>Rebecca Nicholson</strong>
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It review: The difficult second album was too much. Serviceable, but severely lacking inspiration or ambition.