Perfume Genius: No Shape

Scott Wallace
6th May 2017

Love is music's eternal preoccupation, but since Mike Hadreas arrived as Perfume Genius he's had a complicated relationship with it. His most affecting songs were starkly devoid of love - from his shattering first single "Mr. Peterson," to the yearning, hypothetical "All Waters," to the carnal "My Body." His fourth album, No Shape, though, is his collection of love songs. Coming after three albums of intensely cathartic introspection, No Shape is an expression of otherworldly joy befitting a talent as singular as Perfume Genius.

To talk about No Shape, it feels necessary to start at the end. Final track "Alan" is the first Perfume Genius song to bear a person's name since the dark vortex of "Perry" from 2010. Across the new track, Hadreas' distinctive tenor floats on a warm miasma of sound - gaseous strings, guitars and drones meshed together - that seems to levitate. It seems that from the haze of sleep he whispers to his beloved partner Alan, "Did you notice everything is alright?"

Considering Perfume Genius' discography as a whole, No Shape feels like a resolution. Opener "Otherside" sounds any number of earlier Perfume Genius songs, with little more than Hadreas' delicate whimper and a simple piano arpeggio drawing the listener in. In a brilliant fake-out, though, that arpeggio fades away only to return for a single bar, before is it obliterated by the glorious noise of a choir and deep, reverberating synths. The effect is like emerging from a dark place into blinding sunlight. 

From there, the record delivers a set of songs that glimmer and blaze, untethered from the earth and ascending heavenward. First single "Slip Away" is utterly ecstatic, its rhythm racing like a heartbeat as shards of melody splinter away from its restless surface. Fellow single "Go Ahead" is more subdued and dark, but as Hadreas effortlessly invokes the feminine strength of Dionne Warwick in the lyrics, the self-assured kiss-off sputters and bubbles and achieves lift off on its own idiosyncratic updrafts of rhythm.

Elsewhere, Hadreas' performance and the fulsome and sympathetic production from Blake Mills recall Kate Bush ("Wreath"), Sade ("Die 4 U") Prince (the Weyes Blood duet "Sides"), brash and distinctive voices that previously may have seemed incompatible with his relative reticence as a performer. But there is incredible strength contained in these thirteen songs. Even when faced by doubts on the abstract and elliptical "Choir," or the emotional travelogue "Valley," the songs never feel bogged down or resigned.

Ultimately, what No Shape does best is take the recognisable tropes of rock and pop music and ignite them with newfound passion. Some songs radiate heat, as if they may suddenly ignite, while others are already towering infernos, and still others simmering coals. It's a surprise coming from Perfume Genius as much as it is a continuation and expansion of his signature sound. 

The final words that Hadreas sings on "Alan" are "I'm here... How weird." He still has a complex relationship with love, but this puzzled awe suits him very nicely.

No Shape is out now on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.