Perfume Genius Announces Winners of "Without You" Video Competition, Shares First Fan-Created Video

PERFUME GENIUS ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF “WITHOUT YOU” VIDEO COMPETITION SHARES FIRST FAN-CREATED VIDEO TODAY  SET MY HEART ON FIRE IMMEDIATELY OUT VIA MATADOR LISTEN/PURCHASE HERE

Photo Credit: Camille Vivier Around the release of his critically acclaimed new album Set My Heart On Fire Immediately (Matador),  Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas), announced the “Without You” video competition. Hadreas asked his fans to submit music video ideas for the track which is taken from the album and while the competition was fierce, 3 winners have now been chosen. Each director received $1,000 to make their vision come to life as well as $1,000 to be donated to the charity of their choice. The winners are Liz Lian, whose video will premiere today, Samantha Mitchell whose clip will release August 4, and Kristin Massa whose video will come out August 11. Watch Mike’s conversation with the winners HERE.   Liz Lian’s statement on her video:   This song, and Mike's artist's statement about it, reassures me that moments of comfort and clarity are just as certain to appear as confusing, lonely moments are. It reminds me to be patient and to turn toward conflict within myself and view it as a beautiful, imperfect metamorphosis, rather than hide from it. This music video is about the exploration and discovery of self through the natural world. I aim to depict the unfamiliar, abstract, and jumbled parts of ourselves through elements of surrealism and magical realism. Narratives of self-discovery in media often center around coming-of-age stories of young white people as they enter adulthood. But self-discovery and reinvention occur throughout our lifetimes. Seeds of change sown within us can blossom into exciting, life-altering experiences when we least expect it. Annie Tezuka, who stars in this video, did a beautiful job embodying this experience. I wanted to shine a particular light on the experience of women who, as they age, are increasingly seen as they are in relation to others – mothers, wives, grandmothers – and for this video to be a tribute to the complexities and constant change within all of us, especially those women. Watch the clip here:

Lian has chosen to designate The ACLU of Southern California as her charity of choice. SoCal’s long history of advocacy, litigation, and education defends civil rights and liberties regarding racial and economic justice, freedom of speech, government transparency, LGBTQ rights, privacy, gender equity, reproductive justice, immigrants’ rights, criminal justice and drug policy reform, and police practices. You can donate here, to the national chapter, or your local chapter. https://www.aclusocal.org   Samantha Mitchell will donate to the Baltimore chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project. Sex work is work. The Sex Workers Outreach Project is committed to ending violence and stigma against sex workers. Their national social justice network that advocates for the fundamental human rights of sex workers, including harm reduction, positive representation, and decriminalization.  Kristin Massa will donate to RAICES. RAICES is a non-profit organization in Texas that provides legal services and advocacy for immigrant children, families, and refugees. Every immigrant deserves the right to human dignity, and RAICES defends this right by providing legal services for thousands of children in tent cities, bond assistance, and by training pro-bono lawyers to aid detained clients forced to navigate the ICE detention system. By donating to this organization, you will directly contribute to the quality of life for immigrants caught up in the deliberately oppressive immigration policies in the United States. Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) recently performed performed the album’s single “On The Floor,” on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. In addition to the televised performance, Hadreas also shared an online-only performance of his ballad “Jason.” Hadreas was backed by a band of notable performers including his long time collaborator Alan Wyffels and Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy. Watch “On The Floor” HERE. Watch “Jason” HERE. Set My Heart On Fire Immediately was produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Blake Mills and features contributions from musicians Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino, Matt Chamberlin and Rob Moose. It was recorded in Los Angeles, where Perfume Genius settled in 2017 with longtime partner and musical collaborator Alan Wyffels. The album explores and subverts concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, and introduces decidedly American musical influences. "I wanted to feel more open, more free and spiritually wild," says Hadreas, "and I'm in a place now where those feelings are very close-- but it can border on being unhinged. I wrote these songs as a way to be more patient, more considered -- to pull at all these chaotic threads hovering around me and weave them in to something warm, thoughtful and comforting"

Photo Credit: Camille Vivier ACCLAIM FOR SET MY HEART ON FIRE IMMEDIATELY: "Mike Hadreas’ fifth album glides between sublime melodies and grimy, guttural dissonance, embracing the joys and burdens of the human body and its innumerable, intangible yearnings."  Pitchfork 9.0 “Best New Music” "The sturdy structures of pop only go so far in Perfume Genius songs. They provide reassurance that others have found ways to capture similar feelings. But they can’t hold back the immediacy of longing, the all-consuming physical need. " The New York Times "Hadreas the performer emerged in full technicolor, standing front and center as the defiant face of his, now decade-long, musical project." Vogue "’Describe" features a gloriously fuzzed-out guitar tone and Hadreas' lovely, ethereal voice." NPR “a pop-perfect two and a half minutes.” Rolling Stone on “‘Describe” "If the early albums were coming-of-age records, this is Perfume Genius, of age. The music isn’t any one thing. It’s everything, occasionally at once, playing with the ideas of hard and soft, innocence and danger, chaos and control, vastness and intimacy, leather and lace. The characteristic — thrilling — strangeness remains, particularly when Hadreas indulges the deeper registers of his singing voice." New York Times “‘Describe’ is Perfume Genius at their finest as Mike Hadreas takes us through a trip of multiple dimensions, unveils a screeching guitar and unleashes a heavy rhythm section on this ‘90s rock-feeling single" Billboard “a bouncy bop of a tune” Time (5 Best New Songs of the Week) on “On The Floor”  “it is grandiose and beautiful." Fader on “‘Describe” “‘Describe’ captures both sides of Perfume Genius perfectly, as pointedly dissonant as it is quietly rapturous." Pitchfork  “Between this and excellent lead single "Describe," the LP is shaping up to be something truly special." E! On “On The Floor” "He recast what we understand as music into a weather of feeling and thinking, one where the body (queer, healing, troubled, wounded, possible and gorgeous) sings itself into its future." V Magazine "Everything about ‘Describe' is huge - set to IMAX, surround-sound scale. Those guitars! Ornately cloaked in some of the most beautiful distortion this side of the 21st century - with some ethereal slide work thrown in for good measure - they're the perfect vehicle for a haunting, but incredibly captivating ballad for the ages." Guitar World  "’Describe’ is all corroded distortion and guttural guitars, until these flickers of beauty start to cut through the murk." Stereogum "Stunning and strange." PAPER Magazine "Set My Heart sees him embrace American rock ‘n’ roll glory. It still preserves his enthralling tenderness and idiosyncratic pop palette, but it adds torched guitars and classic rock melodies. Songs like “Describe” are led by a dreamy, prevailing calm while still shaking the ground with guitar distortion. It’s Hadreas at his most abstract and carefree. " Paste Magazine "It’s a heavy, slow burn of a song. Distorted, bluesy guitars back Hadreas as he sings."   Vulture on “Describe” "“On The Floor” finds him almost going in a funk/disco direction, and he does it in that way that only Perfume Genius can. It’s another very promising single and judging by these two songs, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately doesn’t seem like an album you’re gonna be able to easily pigeonhole into one sound." Brooklyn Vegan  "This is the Perfume Genius I've been wanting: heartfelt songwriting delivered through sunny, sumptuous pop-craft." PopMatters on “On The Floor” "On ‘Describe,’... the distorted guitar and dense wall of low-end sound gives way to an ambient, twinkling atmospheric outro. But the real throughline that connects his (very good) older music to his (even better) newer material is his underlying tenderness, the intimacy in his lyrics and dynamic vocal delivery. " The Daily Beast "The soundscape of Perfume Genius has snowballed, from intimate piano-driven ballads of heartache to bombastic anthems of swirling synths and strings." AV Club

Set My Heart On Fire Immediately Tracklist 1) Whole Life 2) Describe 3) Without You 4) Jason 5) Leave 6) On the Floor 7) Your Body Changes Everything 8) Moonbend 9) Just A Touch 10) Nothing At All 11) One More Try 12) Some Dream 13) Borrowed Light Website * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook