Turn the volume down.
No, really… right down. Music right now seems to emphasise noise, volume… power instead of grace and subtlety. From the bass weight of dubstep to the grinding feedback of indie pop, it seems that music has lost the ability to just sit still and reflect.
Hailing from Seattle, Perfume Genius could prove us wrong. An alter ego for Michael Hadreas, debut album ‘Learning’ has a rare sense of peace, of stillness rippling through its dream like songwriting.
Stark and confessional, Hadreas earned a reputation as a songwriter for whom less was most definitely more.
Returning with a new offering, Perfume Genius have turned the volume down even further. Yet the arrangements are in turn more full, with ‘Put Your Back N 2 It’ having an intangible, illusionary quality.
Pop Impressionism, the Pointillism sonics of ‘Put Your Back N 2 It’ build up into something hazy, something quite beautiful. When you turn the volume down noise is lost, but something additional is gained.
Swapping the personal nature of his debut for sweeping soundscapes, Perfume Genius has managed to develop without losing the quiet contemplation of his debut.
Stripped from the new album, ‘All Waters’ is a short piece – hardly what could be tagged ‘epic’ songwriting. However the peace Perfume Genius instils in the piece enforces a sense of drama, a sense of theatrics which would be lost if the volume were pushed up.
Listen to it now… Grab it HERE.
