- With a discography that has transported weightlessly between the enchanting, ethereal elements in Put Ur Back N 2 It, to the horrorcore Swans-like drone of Too Bright and the luscious art-pop of No Shape, it seemed inevitable that Perfume Genius would continue to expand his sound outwards, encapsulating more styles than ever before.
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately might be his fifth record and second collaboration with producer Blake Mills, but it never feels like a rehash of older material. At the heart of this record, Perfume Genius’ Mike Hadreas contemplates his growing age, relationships and conflicting desire to express-himself-unlimited. Songs on this album shift and churn, as if the meaning changes as they progress. Where album opener Whole Life has so much to say about his existence, Hadreas decides to show rather than tell; conversely, Hadreas uses Jason to explicitly express a sexual encounter with an unstable, closeted man.
Despite the lyrical heaviness, the record explores a lighter sound: recurring moments of baroque pop recall Julia Holter’s Have You In My Wilderness. Similarly to that album and also Kid A by Radiohead, it’s as if Hadreas has found a space inside his mind where tortured thoughts are transmuted into synaesthetic sounds. The lightness of the harp in pivotal track Leave is incredibly soothing, before the whimpering sounds of what I can only imagine to be animals about to be slaughtered fleets through the beauty. This baroque sensibility floats through the record on tracks like Moonbend and One More Try, which is lyrically tight - allowing fleeting orchestral instrumentation to dictate Hadreas’ direction.
Other styles are captured in the record too. Lead single Describe features bold, heavy guitars that create a whirring, noise rock atmosphere. The tracks On the Floor and Without You are the closest to pop songs that the album gets, a beautiful harmony of jangly instrumentation and Hadreas’ gentle, calming voice at the forefront.
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, like the aforementioned Kid A, or Spiderland by Slint, or All Mirrors by Angel Olsen creates a suspense that cannot be overcome. Even in moments of silence, this album is impenetrable; not just a thing of beauty, but a product of complete artistic presence. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is a reflection of Perfume Genius, an auteur unbound.
- Sean Tayler.