Poignant, artistic and hauntingly beautiful

Perfume Genius is an American singer, songwriter and musician based out of Iowa. He is known for creating music that does not fit one category but several, such as indie, experimental, alternative, electronic, art pop and folk. He even has some songs with elements of classical Baroque music as well as jazz. Throughout his fifteen year long career, he has addressed heavy topics that relate to his life experiences. Some of these topics include what it’s like living with Crohn’s disease, facing domestic violence and abuse and struggling with vulnerability as a gay man living in a modern world. His poignant poetry unironically coincides with the dissonance and artistry in his peculiar instrumentals resulting in a type of music that no other artist can completely replicate. 

His latest album, Ugly Season, is his sixth album, and it was released on June 17 of 2022. This ten song album contains songs that take on an indefinite new age approach while others take on a regular pop format with driving rhythmic patterns. Furthermore, some of the songs are complete instrumentals while others contain Perfume Genius’s whispery falsetto vocal techniques and tight harmonies. Ugly Season contains sparks of joy, melancholy, anguish and every feeling in between. This makes for an album of great diversity while simultaneously keeping its consistency and distinctive pluck.

The opening track, “Just A Room,” welcomes its listeners with a slow ominous orchestral instrumental layered with mysterious whispers. The song then descends into almost complete silence with music box melodies and lower end string plucking. This musical piece is simplistic, yet dissonant, and not to mention hauntingly beautiful. 

The next few songs that follow contain more predictable musical formats and patterns. “Herem” includes beautifully simplistic lyrics accompanied by clever musical modulation, string plucking, and sounds of accordion, organ and flute. “Teeth” includes extremely memorable and peaceful percussive melodies and classical instruments played at a waltz tempo. 

“Pop Song” is one of the more popular songs of the album and is also one of the most distinctive songs because of its heavy usage of plucky electronic synthesizers, harp sounds and heavy percussion used later on in the song. 

However, “Scherzo” takes on a completely different approach since most of the song is based off of one diminished chord. Also, almost the entire piece is played on one instrument– the piano. This piece is dissonant, jazzy and mellow. It creates an atmosphere of eeriness and beauty at the same time. 

More of the songs that follow contain much dissonance, interesting accidentals and chord progressions and dynamics. Ugly Season is more than just a compilation of songs, it is an entire art piece. It is clear that the diversity and artistry of this album is what makes it so remarkable.