Perfume Genius: "Ugly Season" (Album Review)

Genres: Art Pop, Experimental, Ambient Pop

Perfume Genius’ Ugly Season is a project that deals with the art of dance almost as much as the art of music. Ugly Season is part of a contemporary dance piece, interlinking the audio and visual parts. The sound of Ugly Season is theatrical and large, which does well in making the album a framework for something larger. As beautiful as it may be after each listen I’m still left waiting for that something larger to make its appearance.

I understand the arguments that Ugly Season is just half of a full experience. This is Mike Hadreas’ composition which choreographer Kate Wallich uses for their music and dance collaboration, The Sun Still Burns Here. However, when looking at Ugly Season as an album, it is disconnected from dance, whereas it would be more difficult to remove the music from the dance. Perfume Genius also released this record independently from the dance performance, which is why I feel like there should be a measure of individuality or finality for this project as its own experience.

As a performance, one of the most important qualities in dance is flow. Flow isn’t what gives meaning to the dance, but it is what allows for the symbolic meaning to be represented better by forming connections between each movement and giving audience members a greater scope of perception. Ugly Season displays this quality wonderfully, with there being a sense of majestic wonder woven into each track. Even though the incorporation of experimental and industrial sounds, everything feels smooth. It doesn’t matter that a spectrum of very different or unorthodox music is explored because it’s all congruent. From song to song, within a song itself, the changes never feel too drastic to connect the pieces that make up a whole. 

Ugly Season’s different sounds and the way they’re utilized are nothing short of exceptional. While these experimental qualities aren’t the most boundary-pushing, the real strength is in how each instrument works in relation to one another. The synths, percussion, and guitars are used in conjunction to forge some really entrancing melodies. I love the dynamic between the drums and the hypnotic vocals in “Eye in the Wall”, where the combination of each part of the track leads to many interesting layers. However, this isn’t developed much, and it leads to a loss of interest. As a longer song, there is an opportunity to evolve or build off of established concepts, but sadly it remains too stagnant. Ugly Season suffers from a similar problem as a whole. Being part of another piece with a visual component, doing too much would draw attention away from the scenes. Complimenting the dances while not overshadowing them leaves the music in an awkward state of not being able to assert itself and make a statement as much as it should. 

Much of Ugly Season’s momentum comes from the dramatic soundscape. Mike Hadreas’ vocals are nothing short of gorgeous, as they’re stretched out with a mix of tenderness, warmth, and distance. Each of these components plays off of one another to form an ethereal sound. There’s a strange beauty in not being able to fully grasp the emotions presented by an alien voice. Similarly to the vocals, the production features an intense level of drama. Hearing the strings with their crescendos, the saxophone’s descent into chaos on “Photograph”, and the moments of powerful silence do so much to create a fiery atmosphere. “Pop Song”’s androgynous vocals and glistening synths and chimes blend together to create a track with a comforting presence. The emotional expression in this song is done fantastically and represents the realized potential of Ugly Season.

This album has so much going for it and is structured beautifully, but there is nothing more that is done to develop and further it. I think anyone would have a hard time denying the beauty of the record sonically, but this beauty exists to what ends? The choreography of The Sun Still Burns Here fills the gaps of Ugly Season, but as a stand-alone project, it suffers from being too open-ended. Perfume Genius created a great frame, but I find myself wishing that there was something more to complete the rest of it.

Favorite Tracks: Pop Song, Teeth, Hellbent, Photograph, Ugly Season, Herem

Least Favorites: Scherzo

Enjoyment: Low 8

Critically: High 7

Arbitrary Number: 7.8/10