8.13.20 This acclaimed record is certainly Michael Alden Hadreas’s best work, which says a lot.

Fused with fuzz rock, art pop, synth pop, funk and shoegaze, to name the first that come to mind, Set My Heart…might be a masterpiece. The second cut ‘Describe’ is my favorite song of 2020 period. When I first heard it I replayed it 6 times in a row. Brav-fuckin-Oh! The track ‘Jason’ perfectly echoes Blonde Redhead (#743) and an early 60s French romance.

Madison Bloom at Pitchfork: Each Perfume Genius album is a metamorphosis. Over the past decade, Mike Hadreas has transfigured from confessional balladeer to glittering prima donna to our baroque-pop bard. On his terrific fifth album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Hadreas emerges with all new contours. Guided once more by the meticulous work of producer Blake Mills and an expert troupe of musicians, including experimental saxophonist Sam Gendel and renowned session drummer Jim Keltner, Hadreas glides between sublime melodies and grimy, guttural dissonance. It is his strongest work to date—a three-dimensional, dust-blown world that is cinematic in its grandeur and intimate in its inspection of the human form.

On 2017’s fantastic No Shape, Hadreas sang of liberating the body. Each song seemed to unhitch his spirit from the corporeal grind, letting it whip through the air like Fragonard’s swinging lady. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately feels more grounded, both in the earth and in the flesh. As on No Shape, there are skyward string arrangements and sparkling harpsichord passages, but Hadreas and his crew also introduce harmonium, grumbling synthesizer, and rust-worn electric guitar. The effect is sprawling and dynamic, made all the more intriguing by Hadreas’ agile vocal range. On earlier LPs, his voice pierced through the clouds with a clean note or a vulnerable falsetto. Those techniques remain, but he also dips to craggy lows, enhancing the record’s texture with layers of silt and grit. . . .