The FADER has announced its Perfume Genius cover story, the third and final cover of The Sex Issue, following Young M.A and Lil Uzi Vert.
Read Perfume Genius’s full cover story, live now on TheFADER.com, here:
thefader.com/2017/02/21/perfume-genius-cover-story-interview-sobriety
Ahead of Perfume Genius’s forthcoming new album, writer Alex Frank traveled to meet the musician in Tacoma, Washington, where he shares a home with his partner and creative collaborator, Alan Wyffels. During the interview, Perfume Genius discussed his struggles before and after becoming sober, his supportive relationship with Alan, and the new direction of his album in both its production, with help from producer Blake Mills, and its grown-up approach to love in modern-day America.
The Sex Issue is available at newsstands March 7 and can be pre-ordered here.
On the anxieties of being gay:
Perfume Genius: “A long time ago, I felt like there was something wrong with me. And there never was. But there’s just, like, people who will kill you on the street.”
Perfume Genius’s partner, Alan, on the importance of his music:
“He wants to be the musician he would’ve [needed] as a teenager. And I think he’s doing that. He’s singing about things that no other gay male singer is singing about. About his pain, about his experiences.”
On the power of getting sober:
“To just see these happy, contented, joyous gay men was a really powerful thing. They would be telling their stories about what was happening to them in their current sober life that were very hard. But they were fucking living their life anyway, and they were trying to be the best version of themselves.”
On his new album:
“I didn’t want everything to be based just around the piano… I thought it was braver to make something that tries to approach happiness. But even though the songs might sound upbeat, the lyrics are like, The only peace I will find is if I die.”
