ロサンゼルス在住のシンガー・ソングライター Perfume Geniusによる圧倒的な歌の世界を繰り広げるサード・アルバムが発売10周年記念リイシュー!!

活動当初から同性愛者であることを開示し、ゲイの青年が抱える葛藤について歌ってきたシンガー・ソングライター、Perfume GeniusことMike Hadreas。そのリアルすぎる世界観はThe Nationalや元R.E.M.のMichael Stipeを始め世界中のミュージック・ファンや批評家たちに衝撃を与えてきた。そんな彼のサード・アルバム『Too Bright』のリリース10周年を記念して、クリア・ヴァイナル盤が〈Matador〉より再発される!パーソナルな歌詞と叙情的なピアノを中心に制作された前2作品とは対照的に、本作ではシンセやエレクトロニクスをはじめとする様々な楽器が取り入れられ、Hadreasが「ゲイ・パニック」に真っ向から対峙したシングル「Queen」を筆頭に、アグレッシヴで壮大なスケール感のある11曲を収録。本人も「エクスペリメンタルでダーク、ラウドで変わったアルバムになったと思う」と語り、The New York Timesには「不気味な電子音、シンセ、重層的なサウンドスケープを加味した変幻自在の飛躍」と評され、過去の2作から更に深い感動を産み出す新たな名作となった。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2024/06/17）

In some ways, Perfume Genius' intimate, unflinching balladry reached its logical conclusion on Put Your Back N 2 It. On that deceptively gentle collection of songs, Mike Hadreas' songwriting gained more agency while opening the door to the possibilitieshe explores to the fullest on Too Bright. With the help of Portishead's Adrian Utley and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, Hadreas marries his razor-sharp observations with omnivorous music that gives him even more range. If he was empowered on Put Your Back N 2 It, now he's just powerful: on "Queen"'s stately, futuristic glam rock, he subverts homophobia into an alluring weapon as he sings "no family is safe when I sashay" as a proud and predatory monarch. His portraits of victimization are even more vividly drawn as well. "Fool" is a biting examination of the gay best friend as the ultimate accessory to a stylish straight woman's life, setting lyrics like "I made your dress/I'm bleeding out/On the couch you bought/That I picked out" to soulful, finger-snapping pop. Too Bright gives the lushness of Hadreas' previous music fangs and claws, and some of the album's best moments are the most unsettling. "My Body"'s eerie, shuddering physicality invokes the spirit of Harvey's Rid of Me; like that album's highlights, it's equally terrifying and addictive. Things get even more feral on "Grid" and "Longpig," which evokes the Knife with its detached synths and body horror imagery. And while Hadreas' ballads play a supporting role, they feel even more striking and unguarded as they span tender vignettes such as the title track and the heartbreaking "Don't Let Them In," where he sings "In an alternate ribbon of time/My dances were sacred/And my lisp was evidence that I spoke for both spirits" with a raw eloquence that rivals anything on Learning or Put Your Back N 2 It. Equally bold, vulnerable, concise, and expansive, Too Bright dazzles. ~ Heather Phares

Rovi