12. Listen to Ugly Season

Perfume Genius’s “dance” album. Matador Records.

Before releasing his critically acclaimed 2020 album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, singersongwriter Mike Hadreas (a.k.a. Perfume Genius) collaborated with Seattle choreographer Kate Wallich on a dance-and-music piece called The

Sun Still Burns Here. The songs from that project have since been recorded: Ugly Season features production by Blake Mills, who worked on Fire, and writing assists from Hadreas’s partner, Alan Wyffels. Ugly Season includes the epic disco workout “Eye in the Wall,” the breezy, accessible “Pop Song,” and a short film from animator Jacolby Satterwhite.