Perfume Genius – Glory

Perfume Genius’s Glory (2025) marks a compelling milestone in Mike Hadreas's evolution as an artist. Across its eleven tracks, the album balances introspective lyricism with expansive soundscapes, weaving together acoustic guitar, orchestral swells, and alt-rock sensibilities. Produced by Blake Mills and enriched by longtime collaborators including Alan Wyffels, the record moves between moments of quiet vulnerability and bursts of textured instrumentation, reflecting Hadreas’s journey through isolation, mortality, love, and self-acceptance. Themes first sharpened during pandemic lockdown surface here in more mature form: the fear of being in the world, the persistence of emotional baggage, yet also the steadfast beauty of fleeting moments. Glory lingers in ambiguity — it doesn’t always resolve, but it invites the listener to stay in its tension.

The album is at once more grounded and more expansive than some of Perfume Genius’s recent experiments. Songs like “It’s a Mirror” and “No Front Teeth” open with immediacy, while others drift into hushed, reverential space. There is a renewed sense of collaboration here: with the others in the band and through guest vocals (including Aldous Harding), Hadreas allows external voices to deepen the album’s emotional palette. Throughout, Glory feels like a work of acceptance — accepting fears, textures, and contradictions — and in that acceptance it finds a striking, resonant power.

Reviews

“Perfume Genius has built one of the most delicate and haunting catalogs of the 21st century.” – Paste Magazine

“Glory favors subtler compositions that lurch and wobble over layers of instrumentation.” – Slant Magazine

“Hadreas pairs darkly poetic lyricism with rousing crescendos.” – DIY Magazine

“Glory welcomes everything, ecstatic or low-spirited.” – The Line of Best Fit

“Full of energy and biting nuance, confirming Perfume Genius as a consummate chronicler.” – The Guardian