‘Awol Marine’ heralds Mike Hadreas’ second album with a plaintive sigh and mawkish piano that mutates into a distorted hiss. It’s hard to know whether to fall in love or run away screaming, so palpable is the Brooklyn imp’s emotional unease. The lachrymose piano ballads come thick and fast – ‘All Waters’ is bruised and broken, ‘17’ is discomforting and grotesque (“String it up in on a fence, cover it with semen”) – Hadreas eyeballs you, daring you to flinch. Tear-stained and unsettled it may be, but the second chapter of Perfume Genius’ flamboyant, disturbing story is uniquely compelling.
