Following the dark folk fantasy of his first single “Slip Away,” Perfume Genius has revealed the second video from his brilliant new album No Shape. The track, “Die 4 You,” is an ode to auto-erotic asphyxiation, which involves suffocating yourself for sexual pleasure. Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) describes it as “a love song with a lot of breath-control fetish language, to communicate a willingness to really give yourself to someone completely.”
In the video, Hadreas performs a sultry chair dance in a grand but dilapidated building, the Cabaret allusions of the choreography mirrored by his blue halterneck suit. Directed by Floria Sigismondi, who has directed music videos for David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, and Rihanna, the video for “Die 4 You” sees Sigismondi’s signature dilated camerawork focus in and out on a mysterious muscular “body” creation and on Hadreas as he moves, glittering through smoke, with his painted face pressed against clear rubber.
Perfume Genius is about to begin his North American tour with serpentwithfeet, performing in NYC on May 16 at Brooklyn Steel. You can find a full list of tour dates here.
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush