American singer Michael Alden Hadreas, known professionally as Perfume Genius, released his latest album, “Set My Heart On Fire Immediately,” on May 15. With summer classes starting back up, this album could be a great one to study to, or even just sit back, relax and enjoy. Overall, this album has some slower and more emotional tracks, while others maintain a laid-back vibe with an upbeat sound and feel-good lyrics.

The track “WIthout You” is one of the more upbeat tracks on the album. The song begins with talking about seeing a blurry or morphed person when looking in the mirror. However, as the track continues, there is a transition into finally being able to see the true form in the mirror and appreciating that image for a moment in time. Though these moments may be few and far between, they are extremely important moments in everyday life.

The album continues on to the emotional track, “Jason,” which is the best song on the album. This track’s melody is likely to be stuck in anyone’s head for the rest of the day, but it is so worth it. The track is about the experience of a man having a one night stand with a man who is not openly gay. Hadreas has been openly gay since he was young, and his most emotional lyrics always revolve sexuality and the dangers and struggles of homosexuality in the United States. The experience is described as feeling as though he is a source of comfort for the other man, just to be asked to leave in the morning. The song ends with Hadreas saying that he stole $20 from the man’s jeans after, which is a more light hearted ending to an emotional and personal song.

The track “Your Body Changes Everything” opens up as one of the most upbeat on the album. This track is meant to emphasize the importance of the balance between masculinity and femininity in a relationship. People do not need to have a specific role in a relationship, but it is instead better to be fluid with the other person, never really losing your masculine or feminine side. Overall, this track will make the listener re-evaluate how they may be in a relationship, whether it be with friends or significant others.
This album has a great amount of diversity for people of many different music tastes. It has a great mix of both upbeat and somber sounding tracks, and basically all of them have lyrics that are deep enough to get the listener contemplating their life and how he or she may be acting around others and in certain situations. Perfume Genius is not an entirely well-known band, so it would be great for an artist like this to gain some more traction, as this art is much better than most of the top hits that are played on the radio today.