Albums to watch

Too Bright

Perfume Genius

Too Bright

Third album from Seattle-based indie pop solo artist Mike Hadreas produced by Portishead’s Adrian Utley

ADM rating[?]

8.4

Label
Turnstile / Matador
UK Release date
22/09/2014
US Release date
23/09/2014
  1. 10.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Although the album is less explicitly autobiographical, Perfume Genius has never sounded more intimate
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  2. 9.2 |   Earbuddy

    Too Bright is full of avant-garde pop delights
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  3. 9.1 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Too Bright, sonically and emotionally, is a densely, at times frighteningly airless record
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  4. 9.1 |   A.V. Club

    At times noisy, at times beautiful, and always captivating
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  5. 9.1 |   Consequence Of Sound

    The bold new sounds on Too Bright are a playground for his insecurities to wither in the light
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  6. 9.0 |   Beardfood

    Mike Hadreas uses the struggles of being gay to create a contemporary masterpiece
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  7. 9.0 |   The Music

    Compelling listening
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  8. 9.0 |   The 405

    It won't be the record which brings him mainstream success but it will be the record that frees him from the pigeonholing of his bruised and broken singer-songwriter image
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  9. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    It’s not the easiest of pop albums to listen to but its raw power makes it a dazzling triumph
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  10. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Mike Hadreas doesn’t necessarily need your understanding, but you’d be a fool not to prick up your ears and hear what he has to say
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  11. 9.0 |   PopMatters

    Glittered with transcendent brilliance, gilded shadows do not hide the empowered dramatic turn of Perfume Genius’s Too Bright
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  12. 8.5 |   Pitchfork

    A huge part of what makes the work so strong is the generous human spirit that bleeds into it, and Too Bright is the best example to date of the lengths he goes to confront his fears and demons
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  13. 8.3 |   Paste Magazine

    If the first two Perfume Genius albums played something like nightmares—beautiful, full of danger, guided by pristine internal logic—then Too Bright is where Hadreas finally yells himself awake
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  14. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    He exists independently as a cultural explorer as well as simply a very fine, very sensitive songwriter
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  15. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    Similar to St. Vincent's self-titled record delivered earlier this year, Too Bright is pitch-perfect, released under a stage name, and adorned with its creator's visage
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  16. 8.0 |   The FT

    Mike Hadreas is back with a dramatically transformed effort, vocals ranging from high croon to strange distorted tones
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  17. 8.0 |   God Is In The TV

    Fortunately Too Bright, whilst being by far the most developed and exotic Perfume Genius album to date, does not forsake pure, primordial emotion
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  18. 8.0 |   Mojo

    A deeply odd but consistently compelling work. Print edition only

  19. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    Few artists in this day in age take self-expression through art to heart like Hadreas does as Perfume Genius, and with the sensitive confidence that radiates from Too Bright, he’s mastered in a way few artists never do
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  20. 8.0 |   Fact

    Stare at the sun just a bit too long and you’ll get spots on your vision; listen to this album a while and it might start to reshape the way you see
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  21. 8.0 |   Q

    Profoundly confident compositions. Print edition only

  22. 8.0 |   Time Out

    It’s packed with gorgeous soul melodies, heart-squeezing ’80s chord changes and insistent rhythms
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  23. 8.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    It’s a brilliant third effort from an experimental Perfume Genius, shrouded in a sticky pop disguise
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  24. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Perfume Genius has begun to spread his wings, delivering a breakout release that relies on much more than his manic/mopey persona
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  25. 8.0 |   Clash

    The material more than matches the ambition on these 11 bewitching songs
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  26. 8.0 |   NME

    A collection of enthralling confessionals where stabs of bleakness mean that heavy bleeding dominates
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  27. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    The darkness was always there, in Hadreas, in the songs, but now it’s in the music, Too Bright, to sound ridiculously over the top, has darkness in its soul
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  28. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Not every effect works (the gloom of I’m a Mother is too airless, the electronic pulse of Longpig too enervating), but on the whole, it’s hypnotic
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  29. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    There’s a hard spine to Too Bright hitherto unseen
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  30. 8.0 |   DIY

    Heady and potent, ‘Too Bright’ is an astonishingly brilliant album
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  31. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Nothing here sounds revolutionary or even especially distinctive, but Hadreas has successfully conceived of a new context for his raw lyrical approach, opting for a jagged, complex collection of bedroom pop over another sparsely appointed set of torch songs
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  32. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Demands attention in a way his quietly heartbreaking music hasn't in the past
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Perfume Genius: Too Bright

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. I Decline £0.99
  • 2. Queen £0.99
  • 3. Fool £0.99
  • 4. No Good £0.99
  • 5. My Body £0.99
  • 6. Don't Let Them In £0.99
  • 7. Grid £0.99
  • 8. Longpig £0.99
  • 9. I'm A Mother £0.99
  • 10. Too Bright £0.99
  • 11. All Along £0.99
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