![\"perfume-genius\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/perfume-genius.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis week in New Music: As\u00a0Perfume Genius<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(above) Mike Hadreas exorcises some serious demons on\u00a0No Shape<\/em>,\u00a0Sylvan Esso<\/strong> go all-out pop on\u00a0What Now<\/em>, shoegaze legends\u00a0Shoegaze<\/strong> return with their first album for 22 years, and\u00a0Erasure<\/strong> reminisce on the gay<\/a> rights movement on \u201cStill It\u2019s Not Over.\u201d<\/p>\n Perfume Genius \u2013 <\/b>No Shape<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n From that came some MySpace clips a decade ago that lead to a contract and three tortured albums up to 2014\u2019s <\/span>Too Bright<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The follow-up <\/span>No Shape<\/span><\/i> still sees Hadreas in tortured, confessional mode but the impression is that he is starting to move on. From \u201cI wear my body like a rotten peach\u201d in 2014 to \u201cI want to break free\u201d in 2017 is an impressive progression.<\/span><\/p>\n Musically, Hadreas has a knack for ingenious glitchy pop with a voice echoing Anohni, Jonsi and the harrowing squalls of Martin Grech. <\/span><\/p>\n On the closing song \u201cAlan,\u201d Hadreas sings to his partner: \u201cDid you notice, we sleep through the night?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Equally light of touch and hard to bear, <\/span>No Shape<\/span><\/i> is one of the albums of the year so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sylvan Esso \u2013 <\/b>What Now<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n You could think of Sylvan Esso as a project rather than a band and if the experiment was the debut album, <\/span>What Now<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is the verified result.<\/span><\/p>\n Meath said the pair gave themselves <\/span>\u201c<\/span>full permission to just make bangers\u201d and for the most part they have succeeded with electropop tracks like \u201cThe Glow\u201d and \u201cJust Dancing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On quieter moments like \u201cDie Young\u201d the pair strip bare their songwriting chops.<\/span><\/p>\n Generally blippy, always interesting, <\/span>What Now<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is a fantastic follow-up.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Slowdive \u2013 <\/b>Slowdive<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n While the career trajectory for Slowdive is similar to that of <\/span>My Bloody Valentine<\/b> \u2013 early success, disbanded, myth-creation, reform \u2013 everything is similar up to the point of the new music. While MBV\u2019s 2013 return album was decent enough <\/span>Slowdive<\/span><\/i> \u2013 while not exactly doing anything different \u2013 shows how it should be done.<\/span><\/p>\n What makes the album stand out is the songwriting of course but also the simplicity of making good songs with love, something <\/span>MBV<\/span><\/i> perhaps was missing.<\/span><\/p>\n Slowdive disbanded at least partially due to pressure from the music press to do better than their career-defining 1994 second album <\/span>Soulvaki<\/span><\/i>. The return album is a band making new music because they want to, not because they have to.<\/span><\/p>\n Indie rock lead single \u201cStar Roving\u201d is probably the least representative of the album as a whole. \u201cSugar for the Pill\u201d is the real deal so listen below and check out the album on Spotify<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Erasure \u2013 \u201cStill It\u2019s Not Over\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n While the first single from <\/span>World Be Gone<\/span><\/i> was an upbeat effort, \u201cStill It\u2019s Not Over\u201d is a beautiful track about Andy Bell and Vince Clarke\u2019s participation in the gay<\/a> rights movement. <\/span><\/p>\n Fittingly, it\u2019s a timeless piece that could have come from a Yazoo album.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post New Music: Perfume Genius, Sylvan Esso, Slowdive, Erasure<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Decamping from Seattle to New York having been on the sharp end of some serious homophobic bullying in high school probably seemed like a good idea for <\/span>Perfume Genius<\/b>, aka Mike Hadreas but what followed was a spiral into drug addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Calling your second album <\/span>What Now<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is brave but <\/span>Sylvan Esso<\/b> don\u2019t do the expected, comprised as they are of folk singer Amelia Meath and electro-tinkerer Nick Sanborn.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Slowdive<\/b>\u2019<\/i><\/b>s self-titled album is their first in 22 years and the band basically shove the indie kids aside with a lesson on how to make breathtaking shoegaze.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Prior to release of studio album number 17, <\/span>Erasure<\/b> have released new track \u201cStill It\u2019s Not Over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n