Ugly Season
by Perfume Genius
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Jun 17, 2022
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
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  1. All_ButTrU4
    Jun 17, 2022
    8
    Ugly season:8.8/10
    After a 2 year wait preceeded by two stunning singles that both continued to contend with the reoccurring theme of transcendence Mike returns with "Ugly Season" a sonic companion to an ambitious immersive performance art dance piece ''The Sun Still Burns Here'"
    This record rebels against the accessibility achieved by his last two masterpiece but seeks his more    Ugly season:8.8/10
    After a 2 year wait preceeded by two stunning singles that both continued to contend with the reoccurring theme of transcendence Mike returns with "Ugly Season" a sonic companion to an ambitious immersive performance art dance piece ''The Sun Still Burns Here'"

    This record rebels against the accessibility achieved by his last two masterpiece but seeks his more languid and audacious parts,moments witnessed in the horror of ''I'm a mother" or distortion of "choir" . Entire songs can pass without Handreas fragile chords such as the piano piece "scherzo" giving the record a sense of mystique in which his voice is a guest instead of the centerpiece:he adorns it not the other way round.

    The sinister opener "just a room" looms with dread reminiscent of Tim Hecker's Virgins before rising to heavens like a once held breath floating off. "Herem" is so far the centerpiece! It's ushered by pitched whistles and pipes that whirl like pestering flies or fall like bemoaned cries until his vocals tip toe in like careful guides weary of their landscape . "Teeth" is lighter in comparison frolicking in the vein of a prior favorite "just like love" but here there is few moments of relief instead it seems worried as mesmerizing flutes try to calm it. "Pop song" pops with a bright synths that bubble before an enthusiastic sigh washes over it before the song descends into dissonant percussion.

    The title track is a far out guttural reggae trance that moves with the fumes of a hot crowed dance floor. A collage of screams ,sighs and high notes circle the deep mumbling in it's center, a fuk-ing fantastic stand out ! "Eye in the wall" is a drugged manic fever that just builds and builds from senual instructions to "model for me" & "give it up " until a satisfying unleashing of pleasure that took nearly 9 minutes to build once you finally do give it up. "Photograph" sounds straight out of Kamasi washington and growls like an empty stomach before harmonies fit for a cathedral flanks the kick drums like flowers on the mouth of a volcano. "Hellbent" begins like an apocalypse, a horn blares like a siren urging a retreat to safety but here it gets loud before Mike joins sounding like he'd been crying or in an argument . When he says "it's still happening " he sounds distressed, these 6min hold some of the best parts of his discography! "Cenote" is a perfect closer. It rocks you to sleep with an air of acceptance, telling you that whatever it was you experienced throughout the preceeding 6min opus "hellbent" would be okay...and it was.

    Overall "Ugly Season " is a striking project that despite wavering at some parts stands triumphantly in it's ambition. Seemingly sourced from Jenny Hval more ominous compositions (see: blood **** or Portishead this album is a perfect example of making your influences your own as it results in an idiosyncratic abundance music.    … Expand
  2. UlyssesSk
    Jun 17, 2022
    9
    One of the best things about perfume genius and this album is that we can see how ideas from the previous album thematic or in the production and the instrumentation evolves and gets perfected like for example the ending passage of herem is reminiscent of the passage from leave but perfected things like that make me smile 9.5/10 it can grow as a 10 for sure
  3. cesardios
    Jun 18, 2022
    10
    This entire album is just so immaculately produced it's almost like ear candy. Photograph has to be one of the best songs I've heard in a seriously long time.
  4. a_sebastian
    Jun 23, 2022
    4
    It is what was missing on set my heart on fire. The scent.
    Unfortunately it misses the flesh present on the former. Should have mix these two together, we'd have a masterpiece. Alas he didn't. And we end with two not fully satisfying records. Perfume don't try to make hits that bad please. It doesn't suit you anyways.
  5. petrichor1975
    Apr 5, 2023
    6
    "Ugly Season" arrives two years after Perfume Genius' terrific "Set My Heart on Fire Immediately", but sheds all accessibility in its wake. For those wanting more abstract and unorthodox song structures from Perfume Genius, this is the album for you. I was thrown off by the shifting moods of the songs and the absence of hooks or discernible lyrics. I applaud the venture into avant-pop and"Ugly Season" arrives two years after Perfume Genius' terrific "Set My Heart on Fire Immediately", but sheds all accessibility in its wake. For those wanting more abstract and unorthodox song structures from Perfume Genius, this is the album for you. I was thrown off by the shifting moods of the songs and the absence of hooks or discernible lyrics. I applaud the venture into avant-pop and classical sounds, especially the song "Photograph", but for me, it's a much too abstract and unstructured album.… Expand
  6. leumassregor
    Dec 26, 2022
    7
    Perfume Genius, or Michael Alden Hadreas, is an American singer-songwriter from Iowa who recently released his new album 'Ugly Season', a mind-opening album that will either leave the listener stunned, confused, or unsatisfied.

    "Just A Room", the opening track to this album, is a creepy, eerie, and simplistic yet at the same time hypnotic start to the album, followed by "Herem", a track    Perfume Genius, or Michael Alden Hadreas, is an American singer-songwriter from Iowa who recently released his new album 'Ugly Season', a mind-opening album that will either leave the listener stunned, confused, or unsatisfied.

    "Just A Room", the opening track to this album, is a creepy, eerie, and simplistic yet at the same time hypnotic start to the album, followed by "Herem", a track that very much gave me darkwave vibes. It is vocally very beautiful, however, at some points I felt like the song was dragging out a bit too much, leaving me actually wanting it to end as nothing really changed or happened around the middle/end of the track, with the same feeling with the following track "Teeth" where I enjoyed the mysterious-sounding strings but the track remained bland and uninteresting all the way through.

    After "Pop Song", a track with good synth moments but a lack of lyrics, and "Scherzo", which is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a vigorous, light, or playful composition, typically comprising a movement in a symphony or sonata" is exactly that, but is just an awkward break in the album, the album begins to pick up a bit more. The production of both the beats and the vocals in "Ugly Season" and "Eye in the Wall" is by far the best on the entire album, with my only complaint being how once again dragged out "Eye in the Wall" is. The drums are the highlight of this track but once the lyrics stop you're just left with these drums and you're thinking "what's going to happen next?" I simply cannot sit through the full remainder of this track, however, I found it actually great to listen to in the background while doing work or something else as those drums really put me in focus mode. The album ends well, however, with "Photograph", an experimental-sounding highlight and a breath of fresh air for the album, "Hellbent", an aggressive track with one of Perfume's weirdest (in a good way) vocal performances on the album, and the ending track "Cenote", a luscious and peaceful closer to the album.

    This album, I feel like, almost had it. Although it is good, it could've been better. I just feel like it's missing something.    … Expand
  7. AShinyG1ratina
    Jun 22, 2022
    7
    A very good album here by Perfume Genius with some fairly interesting barren soundscapes, impressive songwriting and a wonderful vocal performance. However, the album feels a bit one-note on relisten.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Mojo
    Jul 22, 2022
    60
    Without the accompanying visuals, Ugly Season makes most sense when there's a vocal to centre it. [Aug 2022, p.86]
  2. The Telegraph (UK)
    Jun 24, 2022
    80
    Ugly Season may seem just that to those who prefer Hadreas’s smoother side. Yet the most compelling elements of his work remain, and the album is a culmination of one of the most consistent and emotionally generous artists today. Without the focus of the dance performance, the onus is on the listener to concentrate – but the rewards are as rich as ever.
    Read full review
  3. PopMatters
    Jun 23, 2022
    80
    His most experimental, wandering, and gorgeously unkempt album to date.
    Read full review
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