ADM Chart topper

Learning

Perfume Genius

Learning

Debut album of minimal arrangements from Seattle-based solo artist Mike Hadreas

ADM rating[?]

7.9

Label
Organs
UK Release date
21/06/2010
  1. 10.0 |   State

    The songs have a tendency to slip by in such a way that, before you know it, all that’s left is silence and a feeling that something ghostly, palpable and devastating has passed
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  2. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Ranks as one of the most uniquely endearing and quietly forceful debut albums of recent years
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  3. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Learning is one of the finest illustrations of human emotion ever captured on record. Just make sure you have a box of tissues nearby
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  4. 9.0 |   Click Music

    Whatever he has been through, 'Learning' sees Perfume Genius crumbling his demons to dust, and rendering that dust into songs of emotive, delicate beauty
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  5. 9.0 |   NME

    Heartbreaking rip-your-toenails-out bleakness is all part of Perfume Genius' charm
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  6. 9.0 |   Culture Deluxe

    Already, it is easy to tell that this has all the hallmarks of a timeless piece
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  7. 8.5 |   BBC

    Optimism might seem in short supply, but songs these perfectly formed can’t be crafted without the promise of a little light at the end of the tunnel
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  8. 8.2 |   Pitchfork

    Hadreas has a knack for detail that recalls Sufjan Stevens' more intimate and non-big-tent moments, and he knows how to tell a story...For all its fragile moments and depictions of emotional instability, Learning is an unbelievably warm-sounding record
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  9. 8.0 |   The Independent

    The erie, muted piano shapes a state of melancholic splendour, providing the perfect backdrop for Hadreas’s slightly cracked voice and beautiful, subtle, bruised slow-mo songs
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  10. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Recorded in his mother's house and sounding as intimate as taking a sneaky peek at someone's diary entries, it's an album that feels crushingly personal
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  11. 8.0 |   Eye Weekly

    He sings like no one is listening
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  12. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Deeply intimate, akin to listening to the heartrending confessions of a character in a Tennessee Williams play. Print edition only

  13. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    An original and important new voice in American independent music
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  14. 7.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Hadreas’s raw, minimal songs, cheaply recorded on a warbly piano, don’t ask easy questions, nor do they give easy answers. But they are freighted with the promise of a fruitful and interesting career for him
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  15. 7.0 |   The 405

    Though you have to applaud the guy on his honesty and bravery sometimes I feel that he has a far more expansive and interesting album in him
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  16. 6.5 |   Prefix

    Each song here, when attention is paid, is gut wrenching, honest and unabashedly sad while maintaining a sense of resigned acceptance. It's a tough emotional trick to pull off, but Hadreas does it effectively
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  17. 5.0 |   Under The Radar

    While it's clear that Learning has a lot to say, it sorely lacks variety of structure, arrangement, and melody
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Perfume Genius: Learning

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Learning £0.89
  • 2. Lookout, Lookout £0.89
  • 3. Mr Peterson £0.89
  • 4. Gay Angels £0.89
  • 5. You Won't B Here £0.89
  • 6. Write To Your Brother £0.89
  • 7. No Problem £0.89
  • 8. When £0.89
  • 9. Perry £0.89
  • 10. Never Did £0.89
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