Perfume Genius, Too Bright

Out now, Matador records, matadorrecords.com/perfume_genius To say the third album from Perfume Genius, aka Mike Hadreas, is a departure from his earlier work is an understatement. While the intense and extremely personal nature of his lyrics remains, along with simple, beautiful piano melodies, now his songs are packaged with additional synthesizers, meatier melodies, and an overall potency that wasn’t present before. Hadreas is more comfortable in his own skin, and the timidity in the songs from his debut, Learning, has been replaced by a new inner strength. Sexual identity and physical abuse are two major themes in this album, seen in the videos for the singles “Queen” and “Grid,” but fans will be excited nonetheless, as Hadreas’ vulnerability and openness is what first attracted so many to him. Perfume Genius is definitely growing and working out his demons, and he’s bringing us along on the bumpy breakthrough of a ride. Next live performance: Sat., Oct. 25, Neptune

mschuler@seattleweekly.com