Exploring the Visual Realm of Perfume Genius
Perfume Genius' Evolution: From Intimate Vulnerability to Avant-Garde Artistry
Perfume Genius, the musical project of Michael Hadreas, has undergone a remarkable transformation since his debut in 2010. Initially known for his raw vulnerability and intimate visuals, Hadreas has evolved into a pioneer of experimental, abstract, and cinematic art.
In the early days of his career, Perfume Genius presented music and videos that were raw and emotionally charged, focusing on personal themes and minimal, intimate visuals. His debut album, Learning, recorded at home in Seattle after moving back to his mother's house to get clean, reflected this sparse, confessional style.
By the mid-2010s, Hadreas began to incorporate more elaborate and theatrical elements into his work. Albums such as Too Bright (2014) marked a new chapter, featuring a glossy cover by Luke Gilford and a portrait of Hadreas in a tight gold vest with slicked-back hair. The music video for 'Queen' from Too Bright was directed by Cody Critcheloe and featured a surrealist dreamscape filled with papier maché lobsters, Elvis impersonators, and leaping cheerleaders.
From around 2020 onwards, Perfume Genius' visual and video style became increasingly avant-garde and cinematic, embracing surrealism, abstraction, and more complex narratives. Albums such as Ugly Season explored "weird, wonky, and odd" aesthetics, creating a sense of a filmic world existing in Hadreas' mind. The cover of Learning features a sepia portrait of Perfume Genius with blunt biro pen stabs and a blurred puddle of spilled water covering his face, reflecting this new, more experimental direction.
The visuals for 'Gay Angel' from Learning show a glimmering figure peeling off a pastel pink skin to reveal a black zentai suit, while the music video for 'Slip Away' from No Shape features Hadreas and his co-star, Teresa 'Toogie' Barcelo, running through billowing curtains and stage sets in pursuit of new worlds. Hadreas has also collaborated with movement directors Tate Justas and Kate Wallich on dance routines and pieces, further pushing the boundaries of his art.
Perfume Genius' visual world and music video style have evolved significantly from 2010 to 2025, moving from intimate and emotionally raw visuals towards more experimental, abstract, and cinematic expressions of vulnerability, identity, and queerness. This aligns with a broader trend in indie and art-pop to incorporate experimental sound and visual art that defies mainstream norms.
Notable examples of this evolution can be seen in the visuals for 'No Front Teeth' from Glory, which features frenzied waffle-making sessions, a highly NSFW sex scene with guest star Aldous Harding, and an incredibly shocking ending. Similarly, the cover of Perfume Genius' breakthrough second album Put Your Back N 2 It has soggy paper towels obscuring the heads of several figures in a black and white group shot, adding to the album's raw, intimate feel.
In his studio album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, movement, physicality, and dancing heavily influenced the music, with Hadreas posing on Harley Davidsons, wielding hammers, and having artful smudges of grime with a curled lip in press shots. The album cover has the air of a classical painting.
Overall, the evolution of Perfume Genius traces a path from sparse, confessional styles to more confident, boundary-pushing art that is both musically and visually innovative, reflecting broader themes of queerness, identity, and emotional complexity. This aligns with a broader trend in indie and art-pop to incorporate experimental sound and visual art that defies mainstream norms.
- Perfume Genius' transition from raw intimacy to avant-garde artistry can also be seen in his fashion and beauty choices, as his visuals have evolved to include more elaborate and theatrical elements, such as the glossy cover of Too Bright and the surrealist dreamscape in the music video for 'Queen'.
- As Perfume Genius' music delves deeper into experimental sounds, his lifestyle and artistry have expanded to encompass various elements of entertainment, including dance routines, movement directing, and collaborations with artists like Tate Justas and Teresa 'Toogie' Barcelo, as seen in the music video for 'Slip Away'.
