Perfume Genius ‘Dark Parts’

Sometimes, you just need to listen to a sad song. And the new album from Perfume Genius, AKA Seattle-based musician Mike Hadreas, is full of them. It’s an album that deals with trauma, heartache, desperation, suicide, and a whole range of other fun stuff, and it reaches a climax with the sublime song Dark Parts, written about the abuse Hadreas’ mother suffered at the hands of her grandfather. It’s a delicate, fragile song, based simply around Hadreas’ voice and piano, but it is devastatingly effective. Those willing to look past the truly unfortunate name of Perfume Genius’ album (‘Put Your Back N 2 It’) will find one of the most challenging, emotional, difficult, and ultimately best albums of the year so far.