Hannah North
Freelance Journalist for CLUNK and photographer. Based in London, but you can often find me in Bristol.
Perfume Genius announces his 7th studio album ‘Glory’ and drops introspective new single ‘It’s a Mirror’
It’s happening. On 28th March 2025, Perfume Genius will be releasing his new album ‘Glory‘ via Matador Records. It will mark his 7th studio album and, as a little treat ahead of its release, he’s dropped the first single ‘It’s a Mirror’.
The track is personal and troubled, exploring aging and mental health and how they affect you in the strangest of ways – especially in the LGBTQ community. Mike Hadreas said of the song:”I wake up overwhelmed even when nothing is going on. I spend the rest of the day trying to regulate, which I prefer to do at home alone with my thoughts. But why? They are mostly bad.
They also haven’t really changed for decades. I wrote ‘It’s a Mirror‘ while stuck in one of these isolating loops, seeing that something different and maybe even beautiful is out there but not quite knowing how to venture out. I have a lot more practice keeping the door closed.”
When the song starts out, a beautiful hum of acoustic guitar echoes, as though you’re listening from inside the instrument. It’s coupled with a steady rhythm which pounds again and again until the riffs pick up and we are transported into Hadreas’ mind. What begins as introspective and melodic becomes a thrashing symphony of ferocious rock in the chorus as we hear the lyrics: “It’s a mirror, holy terror, taking focus off the horizon. It’s a chorus reaching for us, swarming locusts wherever you go.”
Throughout the track, the vocals remain steadied; Hadreas is all too familiar with these feelings. They are still troubling, but they no longer cause intense panic. The single rises to something almost euphoric in its final chorus before a steep fall at its close. It leaves you with a feeling of optimism, that you have come to the other end of the isolating loop and that some peace may be on the horizon.
With its masterful storytelling dancing alongside gorgeous production, ‘It’s a Mirror‘ is really setting us up for an amazing new project.
New album ‘Glory’ is out on 28th March 2025 via Matador Records.
Watch/Listen to ‘It’s a Mirror’ here:
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