Another fascinating record that was handed to mankind full of humanity on this ominous last March Friday of 2025 is the gem many uninitiated might overlook. If it hadn’t been for Captain Canada I would have missed out on it as well – but now I am utterly in love with this release: Glory by Perfume Genius!
Finding analogies or comparisons for records is not always the easiest thing, but sometimes the selection of the most fitting one can be even harder. For reasons not to be disclosed here, I chose the following one: This record is the musical equivalent to cotton!
Huh? Cotton?! Yes, cotton, from its picking to its usage in the textile industry and later on in the households of people. Let’s start with cotton in its pre-harvesting stage: Strong boughs (sometimes with the most gnarly thorns out there) crowned by the fluffy, fascinating puff balls of cotton – one of the most majestic and enduring views to look at, born from heat, humidity and heaps of human labor. The earthy brown tones of the stems find their resemblance in the rootsy parts of Glory - when the Americana elements shine through the best, for example in the opener ”It’s A Mirror” when acts like Giles Corey or maybe Orville Peck stand outside of the vast fields looking at the white seas. The fluffiness of the cotton balls can also be found on some tracks like ”Capezio” with those vocoder-hall effects on the vocals of Perfume Genius-founder and sole member Mike Hadreas; a track which should find its way into the discotheques of this world as the best new invitation for a dance with your beloved one: close and elating, emotional and caring. In a perfect world, this song would jump the charts.
Now, of course, here the voyage of cotton is not over: Next stop on our journey is the way the songs fit the idea behind it – to create some gloriously pristine songs that have some muscles but that are clearly Perfume Genius nevertheless. The way that the weavers work the raw material and create yarn that is then used to make clothes – a lot of hands are necessary for each step. Mike has not only assembled a band for this record (a crew united by a common goal, just like the weavers) – no he also opened up to giving his “bandmates” room to bring their own ideas to the table, although of course, he is still the maestro behind it all. So basically, his crew was able to create some trendy color versions of the clothes he designed. The way they all get together, when, for example we get a small harmony chorus line – wonderfully modern Americana. The very best example for this is the second track ”No Front Teeth” when Aldous Harding provides the second harmony line and man, what a tremendous track!!!
Last but not least – the beauty of putting on new clothes, the little crispiness and brittle-ness they have. That certain crispy crunch that makes these moments oh so special. Listening to a track like ”Left for Tomorrow” one can hear the crunch of the bass-line – it is not a big thing, but the production has just enough brittle backbone to stand out against the shuffling beat of the drums. Or also the short and not only decorative moments when we get a minor dissonance in order to not let everything fall into the soft cloth. Or the somewhat old-flatiron-like beats on ”Hanging Out” - to find exactly that kind of sound must have taken some time. However, of course, nothing beats the feeling of new clothes as they also give us power and strength – something that Glory also does. It seems as if we have somebody powerful but understanding, somebody we can trust and who will be by our side.
This record is one of these moments when one just wants to fall into the warmth of the singer’s voice as if it was a ton of cotton balls heaped upon each other for us to enjoy. What Mike Hadreas and his band have done on this record should not be overlooked. This is Indie Folk that can take it with the best of the genre: Bright Eyes, Iron & Wine or the Weakerthans. Don‘t sleep on Perfume Genius and Glory as I nearly would have! Thanks, Jeff!
