Perfume Genius, Sarah Jaffe

Seattle’s Mike Hadreas is the Perfume Genius of hubris who sang, “No family is safe when I sashay,” on Too Bright. Now, the gentle, sweet voice sounds astonished by the domestic peace he’s found in No Shape, last spring’s fourth studio album for Matador Records. Engineer Shawn Everett and producer Blake Mills brought the record a Grammy nomination, but Hadreas’ reflections on the quotidian challenges of sobriety and even autoerotic asphyxiation (“Die 4 You”) entrance with quiet gravity. – Christina Garcia