Perfume Genius
Put Your Back N 2 It
Matador / Playground

I wrote about All Waters, the first single from the Seattle-based singer/songwriter Perfume Genius' sophomore album, Put Your Back N 2 It two months back. The single gave high hopes for this album, and all of them are fulfilled - and more.

Michael Hadreas aka Perfume Genius' debut album Learning (2010) was a remarkable mixture of naked confession and strong, beautifully crafted melodies. On Put Your Back N 2 It Hadreas might be just as naked, but this time the bruises has faded. He is no longer the personal victim, but the almost universal survivor that holds the intimate lyrics and the boldly fragile piano-shaped soundscape. The pain is still present, still lingering behind every hopeful line, yet it also is just another part of the lush beauty.

Put Your Back N 2 It sees 12 tunes, not one of them exceeding 3:20 minutes playtime. But in their shortness almost everyone of them manage to be all one could ever want in such melancholic, experimentally swirling pop-music. Like in the sober prayer of "Normal Song", the wistful gospel of "Dirge", the starkness of "Dark Parts", or the impossible romance in both "All Waters" and "Hood" - there is a touch of jubilance in all of them. In their own twisted way, all these tunes are a celebration of the escape from every abuse, and the strength found in sound others. All done in a most delicate musical manner.

This is an album that dares you to believe in life and love and newfound possibilities - regardless. And I love it for that too.

Perfume Genius has with Put Your Back N 2 It delivered an album to remember. And this time not just for the wonderfully expressed personal story, but for it's most tender human beauty.

Copyright © 2012 Aslaug O Klausen