GAYLETTER

Seattle-based singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas — AKA Perfume Genius — wants you to know he’s not afraid of ‘gay panic’. In fact, if anthemic new single ‘Queen‘ is any indication, he’s enlivened by the unsubstantiated homophobia that’s still, for whatever reason, omnipresent. ‘Sometimes I see faces of blank fear when I walk by,’ Hadreas said in a statement about the track. ‘If these fucking people want to give me some power — if they see me as some sea witch with penis tentacles that are always prodding and poking and seeking to convert the juggles — well, here she comes.’ Previously, Hadreas worked primarily within the realm of deeply personal songs that explored the raw emotions behind depression, family relationships, and homosexuality with unflinching honesty. ‘Queen’ is a shift in a new direction, but one that feels like a natural progression. The glam rock here comes off as a close relative to the heavy, expanded instrumentation of Hadreas’s 2012 record, Put Your Back N 2 It.

The video for the single, directed by SSION, is further confirmation of Hadreas’s evolution—there are TVs being bashed in, a particularly incredible chain harness, and perpetual gender switches that flip queer stereotypes to reinforce his ‘I don’t give a fuck‘ perspective even more. Paired with the bigger sound he’s going for here, you easily get a sense watching ‘Queen’ that Hadreas has definitely grown more brazen in the two years since his last album. ‘No family is safe when I sashay,’ he boasts in the chorus, proudly going for the jugular of homophobes everywhere.

“Queen” is the first single off Hadreas’s new album, Too Bright, set for release September 23 via Matador. Watch the video below: