Part of the charm of Perfume Genius' Learning is its brevity. Mike Hadreas slays you quietly with his piano, falsetto, and lyrics straight from a Dennis Cooper novel in less than 30 minutes. It feels like a note, something honed to a core out of necessity. As he's explained, "I spent my whole life hiding from the things that happened to me, to my family and friends … The entirety of all these experiences: abuse, addiction, suicide, all that cool stuff, I couldn’t bear to look at it." But, of course, he eventually could. On Tuesday, the collection's being reissued in a slipcase edition that'll include three extra songs and ask us to look a little longer. Judging from "Dreeem" -- another ghostly, sturdy fragment -- it won't be unnecessary padding.
We've also heard another of the new ones, "Your Drum."
The expanded Learning is out 12/7 via Matador. The label explains:
The new version of the CD comes in a cardboard slipcase with new artwork (above), along with a coupon entitling you to downloads of three new tracks: “Dreeem,” “Your Drum” and “Divine Faxes.” The new version of the LP is stickered with information about the new tracks, which have been added to the standard download coupon inside.
