Ugly Season is here, and it begs to be heard. Will you listen to the whispers beckoning you in?

Ugly Season is the latest release from the supersonic Seattle artist Mike Hadreas, better known as Perfume Genius. While initially composed as an accompanying piece to Kate Wallich's contemporary dance performance "The Sun Still Burns Here," Hadreas has transformed some of the work into his latest album.

Ugly Season is seductive, manic, fearful, and fun. There are moments of pure bliss and outbreaks of ecstatic chaos that dichotomize the realities of fame and identity. Fans of Perfume Genius may consider this a departure album, a sound more experimental than previous records, but Ugly Season is undoubtedly worth the listen.

The album opens with "Just a Room." Threatening strings rise, and horns join in with haunting vocals that reel the listener in. A Lonely piano and distant hums carry the track's midsection before relieved breaths leave the listener with a sense of beginning.

"Herem" kicks the album into another gear fans will recognize as one of Perfume Genius's more art-pop tracks. Hadreas questions what art is supposed to be. What is there of Him? What is more important, his creativity or his identity? The strings and flutes that layer this song haunt the existential crisis beautifully.

"Teeth" begins with fun metallic arpeggios that dance bright and cheery. Hadreas's high vocals express an almost confident demeanor even though he asks, "What images return to me?" The strings begin to float along and rise in significance and power. Suddenly, the quiet darkness comes back before the visions and questions return.

"Pop Song" is a fun and explorative track. The layers of instrumentation on this track are dense, but they do not seem to crowd each other out. The synthetic and strange echoing rhythms give way to warping backgrounds. Ecstatic sighs are followed by jubilant hums as rhythmic drums kick in. Hadreas's vocals continue to question identity and the worth of a name before backup vocals affirm and uplift the outro to the song.

Ugly Season's first instrumental track, "Scherzo," is filled with overlapping piano rhythms. One seems to chase the other before creating its own notes, overpowering themselves one after the other. In the distance, it sounds like a train is approaching. Frantic rhythms begin to increase and crescendos after a warp in speed before slowly pattering out completely.

The album's title track, "Ugly Season," is a strange blend of art-pop and experimental reggae. Subdued vocals admit vague sins. Perfume Genius has never shied from exploring sexuality in his work, and this may be the deviance one can turn to with a lack of a real identity. There is no regret, however, as the background vocals beckon the listener to look at the pit of black where the tongue should be. The speaker announces it is ugly season, and they love it. There is no shame in what you love.

"Eye in the Wall" is the grooviest song on Ugly Season. Surreal and seductive, hypnotizing vocals call for us to give it up. This is sex. This is voyeurism. This is ecstasy. Dance beats kick into a progressive house tone and throb throughout. Whispered vocals of unintelligible words kiss the edges of the ears as the track takes off into euphoria, only to transform into tribal-like beats with deep and pulsing bass. This track takes some of the best production from Perfume Genius and packages it in a song full of sexy and psychedelic qualities.

"Photograph" slows down the album to a much more somber tone. A lover is being mourned, and the speaker is having trouble accepting it. His world is lost without his partner. Loud and powerful strings are stabbed with paranoid and unaccepting keys. Strings, synths, and drums collide as reality breaks apart within the song. Background vocals hum acceptance. Photographs, pictures, and paintings are all that remain. All that can exist. The track slowly fades into nothingness.

"Hellbent" comes in like a screaming machine. The sound here is jarring, distorted, and distant. The sound begins to mimic musical notes but sounds more like wailing from another room. The speaker in this track is hurt and in trouble, racing to find salvation. The track is chaotic and pulsing as drums kick in and go wild. More faded, unintelligible words fly past the head as the track begins to beg, plead, and scream to be heard. The track breaks down but doesn't fade. It crashes in exhaustion.

The last track on Ugly Season is also the only other instrumental on the album. "Cenote" sounds confident, albeit somewhat lonely. It sounds like victory, but at what cost? The track becomes bright and hopeful as the space opens up. It relaxes and releases, bringing Ugly Season to an end.

Perfume Genius has shown once again why they are one of the most unique composers in music today. His charming originality and fearlessness are on full display in Ugly Season to significant effects. Art is beyond contemporary in the twenty-first century. The envelopes are constantly being pushed, and no sound is too sacred to be explored, bent, or destroyed. Hadreas has taken what it means to be ugly, to see the sickness within yourself, and put it on full display. To find the beauty in our mistakes and the pride in our pain. To let go of identity to become more than an individual. To accept what cannot be changed and embrace who we are becoming.