Today, Perfume Genius announces the release of his new album, Ugly Season out on June 17th via Matador Records. The album is available for pre-order today HERE. To coincide with the release of the album, Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) has teamed with renowned visual artist Jacolby Satterwhite for a short film featuring Hadreas and the music of Ugly Season. Satterwhite is known for his immersive multidisciplinary technique that fuses live video, 3-D animation, drawing and print-making. Satterwhite’s work has appeared at MoMa, The Smithsonian, The Whitney and the Studio Museum of Harlem. His music video and directing credits include the visual accompaniment to Solange’s When I Get Home.
“This project is the genesis of a whole new direction that I’m taking, one that I’ve been thinking about within this endemic culture, since 2020,” says Satterwhite. “Mike and I are both writing scripts. My visual narrative serendipitously mirrors the lyrical direction in his music; it’s a rare, like-minded bond. It’s a creation myth. How do you architecturally mold and render an idealized version of utopia? It’s about making something that you desire so beyond your scope that it’s hard to grapple into a concrete form.”
The music of Ugly Season was written as the accompaniment to Perfume Genius and choreographer Kate Wallich’s immersive dance piece, The Sun Still Burns Here. The work was commissioned by the Seattle Theatre Group and Mass MoCA and was performed via residencies in Seattle, Minneapolis, New York City and Boston throughout 2019. During this time, Perfume Genius publicly shared two of the dance project’s compositions – “Pop Song” and “Eye in the Wall.” “It’s the sound of dancefloor euphoria,” said Pitchfork. “The color of lights flashing as you move through a crowd, the touch of skin damp and warm against everyone else’s.” Now the entirety of the project’s music can be heard in Ugly Season. The album was produced by Perfume Genius and GRAMMY-winning producer and long-time collaborator Blake Mills and was created in collaboration with Hadreas’ long-time partner Alan Wyffels.
Perfume Genius just kicked off his North American tour. The dates mark some of his first live shows in these cities since the release of his critically acclaimed Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. The album was released last year, appearing on 2020 end of year lists by TIME Magazine, New York Times, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, Billboard, The New Yorker, Vogue, NPR, Stereogum and many others. The LP was produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Blake Mills and features contributions from musicians Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino, Matt Chamberlin and Rob Moose. It was recorded in Los Angeles. The album explores and subverts concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, and introduces decidedly American musical influences.
In support of Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, Hadreas appeared on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!, played a global live stream from The Palace Theater in downtown Los Angeles and published Immediately, the book companion to the new album featuring iconic portraits of Perfume Genius by celebrated French photographer Camille Vivier. Perfume Genius also appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Following the release of the album, Perfume Genius released IMMEDIATELY Remixes which sees every song on Set My Heart On Fire Immediately remixed in original running sequence by an all-star cast. In addition to Boy Harsher and Cook the lineup includes Jaakko Eino Kaleivi, Jim-E Stack, Planningtorock, Jenny Hval, Initial Talk, Boy Harsher, Nídia, Danny L Harle, Westerman, Actress, Koreless and Katie Dey.
UGLY SEASON TRACKLIST:
- Just a Room
- Herem
- Teeth
- Pop Song
- Scherzo
- Ugly Season
- Eye in the Wall
- Photograph
- Hellbent
- Cenote
More About Perfume Genius
Hadreas grew up in Seattle, WA and started his music career in 2008. He released his debut album Learning in 2010 via long-time label home Matador, and it instantly caught the attention of critics. “The songs on Hadreas’ full-length debut are eviscerating and naked,” said Pitchfork, “with heartbreaking sentiments and bruised characterizations delivered in a voice that ranges from an ethereal croon to a slightly cracked warble.” These descriptors became the hallmarks of Perfume Genius – Hadreas’ unique ability to convey emotional vulnerability not only lyrically, but with his impressively nuanced vocals.
His following album, Put Your Back N 2 It was released in 2012 and continued to build both his audience and critical acclaim. 2014’s Too Bright, exhibited a massive leap forward in both production and confidence. Co-produced by Adrian Utley of Portishead, the album featured the stand-out single, ‘Queen’. The track quickly became a queer anthem and a powerful statement of being. Hadreas performed the song on Late Night with David Letterman.
In 2017, Perfume Genius released the GRAMMY-nominated No Shape, an album that would crystalize his fan base world-wide and bring mainstream awareness to his art. The record was produced by Blake Mills (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes). “If you listen to the four Perfume Genius albums in chronological order, you can hear Hadreas healing himself in real time, moving toward an emancipation that seems, suddenly, to have come to pass,” said The New Yorker. “The center of his music has always been a defiant delicacy- a ragged, affirmative understanding of despair. ‘No Shape’ finds him unexpectedly victorious, his body exalted.” Over the course of the campaign he appeared on multiple late-night television shows and graced the cover of The Fader.
In 2020 Hadreas released is critical masterpiece Set My Heart On Fire Immediately and appeared Jimmy Kimmel Live! performing “Jason,” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert performing “Whole Life” and performed “On The Floor” on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Set My Heart On Fire Immediately was released on Matador Records to worldwide acclaim. The album was also produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Blake Mills and featured contributions from musicians Phoebe Bridgers, Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino, Matt Chamberlin and Rob Moose with longtime partner and musical collaborator Alan Wyffels. The album explores and subverts concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, and introduces decidedly American musical influences.
Perfume Genius’ music has played a central role in a number of films and television including The Goldfinch, The Society, 13 Reasons Why, Booksmart and Eighth Grade. He has collaborated with artists including Christine And The Queens, Sharon Van Etten, Weyes Blood, Cate Le Bon, Anna Calvi, King Princess and more. Hadreas has also collaborated with brands like Prada and W Hotels on special projects. His albums have been nominated for a GRAMMY Award and a GLAAD Media Award and have topped numerous Decade-end lists including Billboard’s, Pitchfork’s, Crack’s, Paste’s and more.
