Perfume Genius – “Eye In The Wall”

Perfume Genius – “Eye In The Wall”

It’s been a little more than two years since Perfume Genius, the pop auteur otherwise known as Mike Hadreas, released the excellent No Shape, his last album. In that time, as others have noticed, Perfume Genius music has become the go-to soundtrack for anyone making a movie or show about lost teenagers: Eighth Grade, Booksmart, 13 Reasons Why, the trailer to The Goldfinch. And Hadreas has remained busy, touring hard and releasing things like remixes and collaborations. But we haven’t gotten a proper new Perfume Genius song since No Shape. Today, we get one. It’s a banger.

Back in April, Hadreas announced that he had teamed up with the choreographer Kate Wallich and her company the YC for a new dance and live-music performance piece called The Sun Still Burns Here. Hadreas wrote music for the show, and he’ll also be one of the dancers and performers onstage. It seems like the kind of thing that could open up a whole new expressive lane for someone who has always been finding new ways to be expressive. The Sun Still Burns Here will debut next month in Seattle. Today, Hadreas has shared the new song “Eye In The Wall,” a gorgeous piece of music that stretches over nine minutes.

“Eye In The Wall” was clearly written with dance in mind, and it’s easy to close your eyes and picture bodies moving to it. The song is a rich, atmospheric head-trip that owes a clear debt to Amnesiac-era Radiohead. But it’s also built around swirling Afro-Latin percussion, something that goes shockingly well with the sound. Here’s the song:

There’s also a new performance trailer for The Sun Still Burns Here, set to “Eye In The Wall.” It prominently features Perfume Genius, and it looks beautiful:

The Sun Still Burns Here will premiere 10/4-5 at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, and it’ll have its East Coast premiere 11/13-17 at New York’s Joyce Theater. It’ll also run 12/5-7 at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center and 1/17-18 at ICA Boston. “Eye In The Wall” is out now on the streaming services.

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